Open Your Eyes
by OffToLalaLand
Summary: I accepted a long time ago that I was the ultimate Mary Sue, but you know what? I don’t care anymore, especially because I know that the most extreme critiques of all time have accepted who I was and were excited to see me save the world." WN/OC W/L Z/M
1. In the beginning

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sky High or Justice League, and any of its characters. I own everything else, and mind you, that's not a lot. Oh well.**

**The idea for this story came when my friend and I were reading Mary Sue-based stories and we wondered: What if there was a person who had Mary Sue-ish characteristics and she finds out about the Mary Sue girls? What if she doesn't want to be seen as one of them?...And so this story was started.**

**Let the show begin :)**

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"Here we are,"

I rang the doorbell and we waited outside the door, the two adults beside me were subtly glancing around for any suspicious activity. The door was opened and we were greeted by the ever friendly face of my Aunt Lena, with her husband Paul right behind her (They aren't really my aunt and uncle; I just call them that because they're best of friends with my parents). The inevitable hugs and handshakes came, and they soon ushered us inside and on to their bright living room.

"It's so good to see you again Vee, I love the new look." Aunt Lena smiled and I couldn't help but grin at the comment.

"Thanks again for letting me stay here a while," I said as we all sat down on the soft blue couches.

"Oh it's nothing at all dear, we're glad we could help." Aunt Lena said

"And we knew how much Danny wanted to see you again," Uncle Paul said as he looked towards the doorway and smirked.

I turned to where he was looking and saw my 7 year old cousin, he ran over to hug me as tight as he could and I giggled.

"Hey Danny, I know you miss me and everything but I think that a little more squeezing might break my ribs," I laughed as he released me and looked up at my face

"You look different with glasses," he said and I chuckled

Danny saw the two people I was with and turned to give them hugs as well. After that, Aunt Lena said that lunch was waiting so we all headed towards the dining area.

Lunch passed by with much conversation, mostly about the measures that were taken in order to get me here today. Danny was getting bored of their conversation so he spoke to me about his first month of the 3rd grade.

"…and then poof! It was gone! I wanted to ask him if he was a wizard but Mom told me not to talk about that in school." He said enthusiastically as he finished off his story about a performing magician who was a guest speaker at their school last week

"He was probably just a trained illusionist, just like that one we saw at the fair last year with Layla, Will, and Zack, remember?" I said as I took a bite of my lasagna

"Yeah, I know… so how long will you be staying here?" he changed the subject so quickly that the adults turned their heads towards us.

"I'm not sure honestly, but I'm guessing about a week or two, and until then, you have to remember to call me Alex okay?" I said and he nodded seriously because he knew the importance of my new persona.

"Diana and Bruce too?" he turned to the two

"Oh no, Danny, we only came to drop Veronica…uhh…Alex off and then we have to go," Bruce said and Danny nodded as he continued eating his lunch.

After the meal, it was time to say goodbye to the people who brought me here, I was sad to see them go but I knew they had so much more work to do outside.

"So remember, don't answer your phone unless it's the designated ring tone," Bruce said as he walked right behind me and Diana in the hallway

"I'll remember… you've only just mentioned it a couple hundred times," I sighed and he chuckled.

We stopped just outside the door and Diana handed me a little box which I took and opened; inside was a necklace with a heart shaped pendant with a button at the back.

"Panic button, just in case your phone is out of sight," Diana explained as I put the necklace on

"Thanks Diana," I said as I hugged her

"Don't worry, it'll be over soon, just enjoy your time here okay?" She said as I nodded and turned to Bruce

"Vee, be very careful okay? We know you're safe here but we can't be too sure, especially once you step into Sky High," he said

"I know, I know, I will…I promise," I grinned up at him and he raised an eyebrow, checking my face if I was really honest about my promise, he laughed a couple of seconds later and I could hear Diana giggling to the side.

"Okay I'll believe you for now, so I'm expecting to see no sights of super star Vraine, got it?" He ruffled my hair and I stood up straight and saluted him

"Yes, Mr. Bats, sir,"

He shook his head and scooped me up into his arms, hugging me tightly.

"Call your parents tomorrow when they get back to the Centre," he reminded as he released me and I nodded.

"Thanks for taking me all the way over here," I said as I opened the door, shortly joined by Aunt Lena, Uncle Paul, and Danny, who said their goodbyes to them.

"You know the League can't say no to you," Diana grinned as they stepped outside, the car waiting for them on the driveway.

"Good luck…Alex Moore…and have fun," Bruce smiled as he spoke the name I chose.

I waved at them goodbye and watched as they drove off into the night.

"Why don't you get unpacked sweetie? Your things are already in your room." Aunt Lena said and I nodded, going up the stairs to go into the room on the far right of the floor. Danny's room was the one in the middle, and next to it is my Aunt and Uncle's.

I opened the door and got settled in the immaculately clean guest room. I unpacked my clothes and put them all into the closet, and then decorated my bedside table with picture frames.

I turned the TV on that was on top of a cabinet across my bed and turned it on to the Disney Channel; nothing better to cheer me up but watching Zack and Cody running around trying to catch some kids who were loose in the hotel.

I lied there on the bed, watching TV and thinking.

I didn't like being confined here in Maxville, but knew that I had to. Maybe I should explain the reason why I'm here in the first place. Okay, so it's hard to sum up in a few words, but it's mainly because of a supervillain named Thunder. He was a super hero research scientist turned into a mad evil genius. Anyways, he's out for my blood… literally.

Okay, even in my head that sounded weird, don't think of me as some damsel in distress who always gets into these predicaments. Most of the time, my life is normal, or as normal as a superhero's life can get…

I came from Canada, in the city of Toronto. I was born and raised there, by my parents, Elizabeth and Christian Simpson, who were both research scientists. Of course, those names are only their alter egos. My mom's superhero name is Cirrus; she can control the weather, while my dad is Terra Verde, and he can control the earth to a certain extent. They both work as researchers for the International Association of Superheroes; they travel all over the world, helping out with natural disasters and researching about the works of nature, plus top secret hero businesses.

My real name is Veronica (Vee) Simpson and I turned sixteen this year, which meant one thing when you're in Canada and you have super powers: an introduction to the hero world.

Mine happened in mid June, with a few others who were also my age, or will come of age this year. I became the super hero called Vraine.

Coming to Sky High will be a little different because they train their students for four years and introduce them when they graduate, most of them at 17 years of age. I've finished my basic trainings so I would just have to redo most of them while I'm here, as long as that may be.

So back to the reason why I'm here in the first place, Thunder is doing a complicated research about superhero genes and he just happened to pick me for an experiment. Usually this doesn't bother us superheroes because there are always scientists who want to not only learn about the mechanics of superpowers, but to also use them against us…but, all of them have failed so far. When Thunder was still in the hero side, he was a brilliant and respected scientist, he could control the particles in the air that create weather and manipulate them for all his nature researches. Then his work became more complicated, he expanded his research into the broad topic of super heroism and that's when he turned; he got tired of all the restrictions that the International Association of Superheroes has on conducting researches.

Thunder started recruiting other villains and that's when the Justice League found out. Thunder was an old friend of my parents so he got curious about my powers, especially after I became a superhero. That's why they had to get me away, my parents are currently running a search party to track down Thunder and send him to prison. The problem is, Thunder has many accomplices. And that's why they sent me here in Maxville, the place where there's so many superhero families around and the last place where Thunder will search for certain reasons. The Justice League also has the whole city under surveillance now so that I was safer, and everyone else for that matter.

Bruce, a.k.a Batman, and Diana, who is Wonder Woman, are the people who will track down the many labs that Thunder has been running for the past year and see all the things that he's been up to. Cirrus and Terra Verde, on the other hand, are on the hunt for the mad evil scientist.

And me…stuck here in good ol' Maxville…oh joy.

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**A/N: Reviews will be very much appreciated. This is my first story in the Sky High fandom, and first ever on this site, so hope you enjoyed the first chapter. I'll post the second one soon. Thanksss:)**

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	2. Space ship in the sky

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**Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own Sky High, but if Disney lends me Warren Peace for a while, I would be the happiest person on earth (...but sadly, that will never happen)**

**...and here's the next chapter...hope you enjoy it :)**

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I came back downstairs after watching a whole lot of TV shows and found Uncle Paul in the living room watching basketball with Danny; Aunt Lena was in her studio, painting. It was already 5:30 pm.

"Hey Alex, game's on" Paul said as I sat down and looked at the score: the Boston Celtics was getting creamed by the Suns.

"Ouch, 94-53."

"Yeah, and I was really counting on the Celtics to win this one…"

At that moment though my cellphone rang, the music of Panic!At the Disco was the tone I heard so I knew it was safe to answer.

"Hello?"

"Veeeeeeee! You're here! You are aren't you?" An exited voice from the other line said

"Hey Layla! Yeah, I'm here already"

"I have to see you in person, wait, do you think you can meet us somewhere for dinner?" Layla said, thrilled as ever

"Yeah sure, but who's us?"

"Will and me of course, he's here right now and he says he's excited to see you," I heard Will's voice say hello in the background, "So let's meet at the Paper Lantern, that's about a block away from where you are, in maybe an hour?"

"Sure thing, I'll be there at 6:15ish, kay?" I said

"Yup, we'll call you when were close, I gotta get ready, see you later!" Layla exclaimed

"See you, bye."

I turned to the others around me.

"You guys won't mind if I meet up with Layla and Will at some place for dinner won't you?" I asked

"Of course not, you go ahead, I'm sure you miss them." Uncle Paul said

"Where are you meeting them?" asked Aunt Lena asked from the kitchen where she's started cooking dinner

"Some place called the Paper Lantern, Layla said it's about a block away," I answered

"Oh yes, that's a really nice place, just down our street and then turn right on Maple Grove, you'll spot it no problem." Paul said and we turned back to the last few seconds of the game and Aunt Lena joined us.

"Paper Lantern…hey, that's where Warren works right?" Aunt Lena said suddenly

"Who's Warren?"

"He's our next door neighbour, I can't believe you haven't met him before. His mother's Sara Peace, you know her right?" she asked and I nodded, I think I remember her during my visits to the Justice League Headquarters in Metrocity… I think she worked as a healer.

"Yes, Warren goes to Sky High too, and he's graduating this year," Aunt Lena continued

"That's nice… so I'm just gonna go get ready okay?" I said and I jumped up off the couch as the game finally ended and headed for the stairs

…

The walk to the Paper Lantern was short, it was 6:25 when I entered through the black and red doors and was greeted by the sweet smell of Chinese food. I sat down on an empty table and waited for Layla and Will.

The waiter was coming over to take my order when the phone in my hand started beeping, with the tiny red lights that also acted as lasers blinking rapidly; definitely not the designated ring tone, I thought. I set the phone down on the table and frowned at it, wishing that the person calling would give up. When the ringing finally stopped, I breathed a sigh of relief and immediately felt stupid, getting scared of a call, honestly.

"Can I take your order?" a deep voice asked

I looked up at the waiter as he stood waiting for an answer, he was super tall and muscular with his hair tied back, and he was really good looking. I had to try to keep myself from going all googly eyed on him.

"Oh… I'm actually just going to wait for a couple of friends until I order, is that alright?" I said to him and he nodded

"Would you like a drink while you wait?"

"Sure, I'll have some iced tea,"

"Alright, I'll be right back,"

I watched his retreating back then turned back to the now silent phone; I opened it and looked at the caller ID:

_Jackson Laboratories_

Yup, definitely Thunder, whose real name is Corey Jackson. I flipped the phone closed and put my head in my hands, taking a huge breath and keeping myself calm.

My phone rang again, but this time with my music ringtone, so I answered it quickly.

"Vee? What exactly does Alex look like? I forgot to ask." Layla said and I laughed

"Just look for a girl who's all alone with glasses and medium brown hair with bangs." I said

"Right, got you, we're almost there, give us about 5 minutes, kay?"

"Sure," I said to Layla and I closed my phone as I found the waiter already standing next to me and putting my drink down on the table, I said a quick thank you to him and he nodded, smiled, and left.

I sipped on the iced tea as I waited, and I finally saw the two come in. They spotted the waiter guy and I saw Will give him that "guy handshake", he said something to the two and Layla said something back to him, the guy smiled and shook his head and he went back to where the kitchen was. Will and Layla looked around and finally spotted me.

They walked over cautiously and I giggled when they were within earshot.

"I'm not gonna bite you know," I chuckled

"Alex!" Layla squealed as she ran over and hugged me

"Hey, you remembered!" I said

"Wow, Alex, you look like some book smart student," Will said as he hugged me

"Nice to see you too Will," I said and he grinned as they sat down opposite me

"I can't believe you're actually here, you finally get to come to school with us, even if it's just for a while," Layla smiled

"Yup, I'm ready to see that fascinating space ship in the sky," I said

"You're so going to love it there, don't worry, I'll make sure you won't get lost, and we'll probably get the same classes since they'll probably put you in hero class…" Layla continued talking and I looked past her to see the same waiter shrugging on his leather jacket and walking out, he glanced our way for a couple of seconds then headed out the door.

While we ate, Will and Layla talked about their friends; Magenta is the one who can turn into a guinea pig, but recently had a power up and can now turn others into guinea pigs for mere seconds. Ethan is the one who can melt, and he also had a power up like Magenta; he could now melt select inanimate objects.

"So how's Zack?" I asked. I've known Zack for as long as I've known Will and Layla, and all of them have been like siblings to me.

"Well, he was really exited about being transferred to hero class this year with Magenta and Ethan, you know how his power up went," Will chuckled as he remembered the memory.

I had to laugh at that memory, let's just say it involved a robot, a blow up doll, and light bulbs exploding. Zack can now glow so bright that he can make his glow radioactive and blind people with it.

"Yeah, and then there's Warren of course, him and Will are best of friends," Layla continued

"Warren? I think my aunt mentioned him before," I said as I recognized the name

"He works here actually, he just left a few minutes ago since his shift was over," Will said and I now realized who the good looking waiter was

"He's also your next door neighbour you know…" Layla continued as we moved on from the subject of Warren to Sky High.

Once we finished eating, Layla and Will walked me home, and as we reached the house where I'm staying, Layla turned to me.

"Is it bad that I like that you're here? I mean…because of the whole protection program thing?" she said and I shook my head at her

"No, of course not, you know I've always wanted to be here, even if it's just for a while," I said as I looked at the both of them; they had such readable expressions of worry on their faces.

"But what about Thunder?" Will whispered

"He would never be able to set foot in Maxville, he's way too scared of the Commander," I grinned

"I guess… but just promise to be careful okay?" Layla said and Will nodded along

"Why does everyone say that? It's not like I'm accident prone or something," I reasoned as I walked towards the door, and as if right on cue, tripped over the doormat.

"Uh huh…" Will said as he smirked

We said our good nights and the two said they'd see me in the bus tomorrow morning.

I greeted my aunt, uncle, and cousin, and headed upstairs to take a nice long hot bath in my bathroom before I went to bed.

I'll finally see that great floating school tomorrow. Yay.

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**A/N: ch.3 will be up tomorrow if I'm not too busy. please read and review, I'd like to hear what you guys think of this so far. thxx.**

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	3. Mary Sues: Act 1

**Disclaimer****: nope, nothing, or else I wouldn't be here writing _fan_fiction.**

**Hey! Another new chapitreee here, I was actually aiming to put up 5 chapters this week but I got sidetracked with Math tests and ISUs. Oh well, I'll make sure I update soon. Hope you like this chapter. Play on.**

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"Wakey wakeyy, Alexandraaaaa, come on get up,"

I grumbled some incoherent words as I rolled over on my bed, snuggling closer to my pillows. My aunt just walked around my room, opening all the curtains and windows and letting the bright light in.

"It's beautiful outside, Lex, wake up, you don't want to be late for school do you?" Aunt Lena asked

I cracked my eyes open and let it adjust to the light.

"I'm gonna go wake up Danny, so you better be downstairs for breakfast quick okay?" she finished as she left the room

I finally got up and headed for the bathroom; I showered for a few minutes and got dressed for school. I threw on some jeans and a shirt, put some mascara on and headed downstairs for breakfast.

Danny was already there eating pancakes, so I walked over to my chair, ruffling his hair as I sat down and started eating as well. Uncle Paul had gone to work already; he's a citizen and works at a law firm.

I went out the door with all my belongings for school, and Aunt Lena wished me luck and pointed out where my bus stop is.

I walked over to where the red stop light was and immediately saw the guy from the Paper Lantern standing there next to a dark haired girl, who could totally pass as a vampire.

Seriously, she was one of those extremely dressed goth girls; she was wearing a black jean skirt with fishnet stockings, complete with a black lace corset and dark make-up.

I stopped a few feet away from the scary looking girl and the tall guy, and tried to look friendly as I smiled at them. The guy recognized me as he held out his hand.

"I'm Warren, I work at the Paper Lantern remember?" he said in his deep voice, I shook his hand once and let go quickly

"Yeah, nice to meet you, I'm Alex." I said and I saw the goth girl eyeing me darkly from behind Warren and she turned to talk to me

"This isn't the _freshmen_ bus you know," the girl said in a condescending tone

"I'm a junior," I said simply and she raised one eyebrow at me and said nothing more

Warren probably saw my discomfort at being scrutinized by the scary girl so he decided to speak

"So you're living with the Turners next door?" he asked as we waited, and the scary girl put on her headphones

"Yeah,"

"Where are you from?" he continued

"Toronto,"

"I see… do you like it here so far?"

"Yeah, it's okay I guess…"

At that moment the school bus stopped in front of us and the door was opened, the scary goth girl slightly pushed past me to get in.

"Gee, bitch much?" I muttered quietly and Warren, who was already on the steps, looked back at me and smirked. He must have some very good hearing if he heard what I just mumbled. I walked in after him.

"You must be Alex Moore," the bus driver said as he read from a piece of paper, I nodded and he went on

"I'm Ron Wilson, bus driver, also known as Radioactive Giant, superhero," he said as I shook his hand, he leaned closer and said in a quiet voice:

"Are you really her?" he asked, and he must have seen the surprised look on my face because he continued "Don't worry, the league informed me,"

All I could do was nod and head off to find a seat. There were only two seats left; one is across from Warren (who looked like he's ready to kill himself beside the goth girl), beside a sun-kissed blonde who was filing her nails, and the other seat, to my utter relief, is beside Zack. I walked over to him and smiled a friendly smile.

"Is this seat taken?" I asked him politely; across the aisle were Will and Layla who could barely contain their giggles.

"No go ahead, Magenta usually seats here, but she's getting a ride from her brother this whole week," Zack said as I sat down after I thanked him

"I'm Alex, you?"

"I'm Zack yo… so you're new right? Where are you from?" he asked

"Yeah, I'm from Toronto," I answered

"Really? I've been there before when I visited a friend who lives there," he continued and I looked to the side and saw Layla typing a message on her cellphone. Seconds later my phone rang with the message tone. I opened the message and saw:

_R u planning on telling him anytime soon?_

I looked over at her while Zack kept talking and shrugged.

"Hey, cool phone, one of my friends has exactly the same kind," Zack started

Oh shit, I was thinking, my phone is the only one of its kind, modeled like a Razr in light pink, black, and silver (my costume colours), but with touch screen and other super special features.

"Oh…really," I said weakly

"Yeah, but she had these lasers at the back that I put up for her, they're very useful actually, the lasers can cut through things and stuff," Zack said as he looked over my phone and I saw him fingering the laser panel at the back.

"Just like that…" he muttered, as realization dawned on him and he looked at me

"Vee?" he whispered

"Hi Zack," I said as I grinned up at him, he turned to Will and Layla for confirmation and they nodded

"Whoa, yo…wait…why are you here?...Are you…" Zack continued as he put the puzzle together, I nodded to confirm his thoughts

"You're in the League's P.P.?" he asked and I had to giggle when he mentioned the Justice League's Protection Program.

"Yeah," I said in a whisper and he nodded, astonishment written clearly on his face.

I met Ethan as he got on the bus, and the seatbelts strapped themselves on to us and the bus started to fly. It was a really fun feeling, like riding on a roller coaster, except that the school is the last stop, not the amusement park.

When the bus finally landed, I got off and took in the sights. Students were walking around with their friends, some showing off their powers. That was something you wouldn't see at a normal high school like my old one.

Layla walked me through the entrance with the guys right behind. I finally met Magenta, and she and Layla decided to come with me to the office to get my schedule.

"We'll see you in class guys," Will said as he and the other guys went off to their lockers.

"So what's your power Alex?" Magenta asked as we walked towards the main office

"I'm telekinetic," I replied

"Cool, you'll make hero no problem," Magenta said

"Yeah I guess, but I wouldn't mind even if I'm a sidekick, honestly," I said as Layla nodded

"...You know you're the first new girl who's actually said that?" Magenta asked

"What do you mean?"

"Well, most girls who transfer to Sky High are here because they're really powerful, and they like it that way, meaning they like to show off once in a while," Magenta said as we just happened to walk by the same sun-kissed blonde in the bus. Magenta pointedly looked at her when she mentioned the "showing off" part.

"Oh…well, not all of them are like that right?" I asked

"Oh no, only the Mary Sues," she replied and that's when my mind went HUH?

"Mary Sues?" I looked at Layla and saw that she had that same worried expression on her face but I decided not to press her on anything.

"Yeah, they're the most unoriginal people in the school," Magenta said "You'll notice them soon enough," And she left it at that as we walked inside the bright main office.

I walked up to the front desk and was greeted by the secretary.

"Hi, I'm Alexandra Moore."

"Oh yes, here's your schedule," the secretary said as she handed me my timetable "You've been placed in hero classes so you won't have to go through Power Placement."

I nodded and thanked her before leaving with Layla and Magenta. We found that we had all our classes together, and with Will, Zack, and Ethan as well.

Layla and Magenta introduced me to more people and I was starting to feel relaxed as we headed to our first class, which was Hero 101.

I looked at my schedule and frowned at the classes' names.

"Jeez…What kind of classes are Comic Critiquing and Mad Science?"

**TBC  
**

**A/N: Well there it is, next chapter will be up soon, hopefully by tomorrow(or later on today). Thanks for the people who left reviews (there weren't that many) but thanks to those who actually did. It made my day, really :) Reviews are always welcome, as all of you writers may know. Anywhoos, I've decided that I'll be nice and put up a sort of _teaser _for the next chapter. Here it is:**

_"Oh yeah, her name's Karen,"_

_"What's her power?"_

_ "Pyrokinetic, like Warren"_

_ "Ohhhh…."_

_ Will, Zack, and Ethan waited for me and Magenta as we got our food, plus Layla's salad._

_ "New table again?" Will asked as we sat down_

_ "Yup," Layla answered and I sat down beside her_

_ "Man, that's like, the 4th time this month," Zack said as he ate his fries_

_ "You guys must be really popular then, if all these people want to be where you sit," I grinned as I popped a fry into my mouth _

_ "Nahh, it's not us…rather it's…." Ethan was cut off by the sudden arrival of the ever so tall Warren Peace_

_ "Hey man, where have you been?" Will asked as Warren sat down beside him, who sat across from me._


	4. Warren vs them

**Here's chapter 4 as promised, hope you like it. I know this story is starting out pretty slowly, but what story doesn't right?**

**Disclaimer: nada, nope, non, I own nothing at all**

Hero 101 passed by uneventfully, (if you didn't count me tripping on someone's bag on the floor and whipping some kid named Larry on the head with _my_ own bag after I was introduced to the class and was sent to sit next to Ethan), after that I headed off to my next class, which was Comic Critiquing.

It ended up to be quite fun, the teacher was lecturing us about the importance of colour schemes in comic books and he assigned us comic books to read and interpret for homework. Not bad.

Lunch finally came and I followed Layla and Magenta through the cafeteria doors. We met up with Will, Zack, and Ethan at the line to get food and told them we'd find a table.

"We usually sit by over….there," Layla's voice faltered as she noticed that the table she was pointing at was already occupied by a girl with cropped black and red hair.

"Well, we can just sit somewhere else," Layla continues as we headed off towards another table

"So…what was that with the table?" I asked

"Oh, you know, I just didn't want to see another "It's my table" fight between that girl and Warren," Layla said and Magenta smirked

"'It's my table' fight?" I asked incredulously and the two nodded

Magenta and I left Layla at the table as we got on the line to get our food. A thought occurred to me as we were waiting.

"So…was that girl one of the Mary Sues you were talking about?" I asked Magenta

"Oh yeah, her name's Karen,"

"What's her power?"

"Pyrokinetic, like Warren"

"Ohhhh…."

Will, Zack, and Ethan waited for me and Magenta as we got our food, plus Layla's salad.

"New table again?" Will asked as we sat down

"Yup," Layla answered and I sat down beside her

"Man, that's like, the 4th time this month," Zack said as he ate his fries

"You guys must be really popular then, if all these people want to be where you sit," I grinned as I popped a fry into my mouth

"Nahh, it's not us…rather it's…." Ethan was cut off by the sudden arrival of the ever so tall Warren Peace

"Hey man, where have you been?" Will asked him as he sat down beside Will, who sat across from me

"Ran across Annie after class, need I say more?" He grunted as he ate an apple from his lunch tray

"Dude, that preppy blonde girl? She totally freaks me out…total Mary Sue," Zack said as he finished off the last of his fries and the others nodded, I was definitely missing something here

Will snorted as he looked at my confused face.

"Maybe we should explain to Alex what we're talking about," he chuckled

"That would be nice," I said and I took a sip of my Coke

Layla was the one who spoke first.

"Well, Magenta already mentioned what they were like before, but the thing we never told you was that they're always after guys in this school," she said

".cough. Warren .cough." Magenta snickered and Warren sent her a glare which she studiously ignored

I turned to him, surprised

"Really?" I asked, this is getting really interesting

"Yeah," he said grimly "They just can't seem to get the hint that I don't want them around,"

"Face it Warren, those girls just can't resist you," Magenta laughed then turned to me "Some of them go after Lash too, but he's out for his graduation trip this week,"

"So that's why more of them are hunting down Warren today," Will said as he smirked

"Ohhh, so you've got your own batch of fan girls, that's really...interesting," I said to Warren

"And annoying," he said

"Yeah, you won't believe how vain those girls are, not to mention power snobs," Ethan said as I turned to look at him

"They pretty much think they're the most powerful people in here, and they like to show it off to everyone," he continued "it definitely gets old after a while."

"You'll probably see one of them in action later in Save the Citizen," Will said

"Oh great, gym class…" I muttered

"You weren't the one who got thrown around by that Jillian girl last week, I've still got bruises," Zack said as he showed me his elbow with a big ugly purple bruise

"Ouch, she's that powerful huh?" I asked, getting curious about these people by the second. Zack nodded.

"She's the girl at the bus stop this morning," Warren informed me "Jillian Morte"

"Ahhh, scary goth girl?" I asked and he nodded

"She controls darkness," he said

"How fitting," and the others smirked

"Jillian likes to think of herself as untouchable," Layla told me "Like no one could ever beat her in Save the Citizen,"

"So do all of the Mary Sues when you think about it," Magenta said

"Surprisingly, none of them are elementals, considering the fact that they think so highly of themselves," Ethan said

I was surprised when he said that, superhero elementals are very powerful, and I thought that these Mary Sues were exactly that, from the way they were described. Apparently not then.

"Elementals are really rare though," Magenta said as she glanced at Warren

Ethan spoke up again "Hey, do you remember that one time that girl over there at our old table said she was more powerful than the superhero of the century?"

Will choked on his drink but coughed it out and said "Yeah,"

"She's way too over confident that one," Warren grumbled

"Yeah, she is, saying she's more powerful than the superhero of the century, really" Magenta snorted "I mean, that superhero is like the elite of the elite." she said as Ethan nodded

"Yeah, the holder of all elements, no one can possibly beat that one," Ethan said

"I thought people didn't believe she existed?" I asked, I have heard so many people deny that the superhero of the century existed at all before so I wanted to know if Ethan believed

"Oh yeah, some people deny it of course, but she's actually real, with all the powers and everything," he said

"Cool," I said meekly as I took a drink from my Coke bottle

"Yeah well, if that superhero ever meets these Mary Sues, maybe she could beat them and they'd all go away," Warren said darkly as goth girl walked by and smiled at him

Will laughed, but I knew it was kind of forced. Zack refused to look at me and Layla was fiddling with her ivy bracelet. Seriously, these guys don't handle tough situations that well. Luckily though, lunch was almost done so we all got up and threw our garbage and headed for our next classes.

Warren had Superhero Tactics next and we juniors had Mad Science. After that we all met up in the gym for Save the Citizen.

Something tells me this won't turn out well.

TBC

**A/N. It's a little short but i'll update soon. hope you liked it :) And don't forget to press that little blue button on the left side of the screen and drop off your comments/suggestions. thxx.**

_"Bet you anything she's going to call our favourite hothead," Magenta smirked_

_ ...And as she predicted, Annie called out:_

_ "Warren Peace,"_

_ Warren, who was sitting right in front of us, stood up and went to change with a glare plastered onto his face._

_ "And Zack over there," Larry added and Zack jumped off of his seat and eagerly went down to change _

_ "Anyone bring sunglasses?" Magenta asked sarcastically_

_ I snorted and watched as Warren, Zack, Larry, and Annie got ready for battle._


	5. Gym class?

**Disclaimer: nada yada yada bibidibobidiboo (okay, bibidibobidiboo isn't even mine) I own nothing. nothing i tell you.**

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I was in my blue and orange gym uniform and sitting in the stands. I've met a few other nice people in my classes and here I was, waiting for the matches to begin with them sitting around me. I was beside Magenta and Zack and they were explaining to me what one does during Save the Citizen.

Coach Boomer stood up and scanned the crowd, his eyes lingered over the nearest seats in front of him, which happened to be where we were. He picked Larry, the guy who could turn into a rock giant and another girl, named Annie, who I recognized was the girl doing her nails in the bus this morning.

"Alright you two, Heroes or Villains?" Coach Boomer asked as he climbed up onto his high chair.

Larry and Annie looked at each other and said "Villains,"

"Oh-kay, pick your heroes then," Boomer said.

"Bet you anything that Annie is going to call our favourite hothead," Magenta smirked.

And as she predicted, Annie called out:

"Warren Peace,"

Warren, who was sitting right in front of us, stood up and went to change with a glare plastered onto his face.

"And Zack over there," Larry added and Zack jumped off of his seat and eagerly went down to change.

"Anyone bring sunglasses?" Magenta asked sarcastically.

I snorted and watched as Warren, Zack, Larry, and Annie got ready for battle.

And battle they did. When the clock started ticking, the heroes immediately went to work and fireballs flew in every direction thanks to Warren. Zack was glowing too but it wasn't really doing anything on the offense…yet. Larry was already the big rock and advancing menacingly at his opponents, and Annie…well, she was doing something strikingly big.

She raised her arms and a huge gust of wind flew around the gymnasium. It knocked Warren and Zack against the walls of the arena and even Larry was swaying. Heck, us spectators were holding on to each other in order to stay on our seats.

I could see perfectly well that Annie was powerful, controlling the wind like that. But I also saw why she wasn't an elemental; an elemental is completely attuned to his or her element, just like they can speak to the element itself. Annie was just a simple controller, but a powerful one at that.

Back in the game, when only a minute was left, Zack turned on his blinding glow show and literally everyone in the room shielded their eyes. No one saw what was happening until Zack stopped his glowing and we all saw him holding the dummy. Cheers erupted and the villains went out of the arena to change back, muttering angrily at how they were beaten.

"Hey guys! Did you see what I did?" Zack asked excitedly as he turned to us. We all just rubbed our eyes and I blinked against the white dots that I keep seeing.

The gym class droned on. I watched several heroes and villains get clobbered up and the occasional dummy being shred to pieces. The cool thing was that I got to see my new friends' powers in action.

Magenta played with a partner in sophomore class who could generate force fields. She simply turned one of the villains into a guinea pig for a fraction of a second and her partner locked him up into a force field.

Ethan melted his way through the course, and helped catch the dummy before it was too late with the help of his partner, the guy who could shoot laser beams from his eyes.

"Pick your heroes then," Boomer said once again and I turned to who he was talking to.

It was scary girl Jillian, with her partner Ted, a flame thrower, beside her.

I saw Jillian's eyes flicker over to me and smirk. That self-righteous biatch, I was thinking as she called my name. I stood up and headed down to the screen where I quick-changed into the hideous spandex protective suit.

Ted called out the person I would work with, and to my surprise, heard a familiar name.

"We'll take Peace," he said

--

"So you're telekinetic?" Warren asked me as we stood beside each other facing our supposed villains.

"Yeah,"

"Can you take a hold of fire?"

"I think so,"

"That'll be good enough for McCarthy, Jillian's gonna be a little harder though," Uh oh, girl with darkness, I just remembered.

"She controls darkness?" I asked quietly and he nodded "…and what exactly does that mean?" I muttered more to myself than him.

"Try to dodge whatever she throws at you," Warren warned me as the buzzer sounded and Coach Boomer boomed.

"Battle!"

Ted advanced on the both of us and started hurling fireballs. I dodged most of them and diverted the rest using my telekinesis. Warren on the other hand, took hold of all the fireballs thrown at him and threw it back to Ted. I saw that the arena was slowly getting covered by the fire and spotted Jillian sitting on one of the benches, looking as if she doesn't have a care in the world.

Warren and Ted were fighting around the arena now and I moved towards the citizen, towards Jillian.

I saw her smile at me as she stood up and raised her arms. Black clouds appeared and surrounded her. Next thing I knew I was surrounded in the same black clouds. I fought my way out of the darkness, and luckily, some of the light from the fire around us was making things more visible for me.

I finally saw her, right ahead of me and I acted quickly. I concentrated hard and she was sent flying back into the dumpster. The black clouds disappeared and as I advanced towards the citizen again, Jillian let out a frustrated scream.

I turned to her…she did not look like a happy camper (not that she ever looked happy before, at all). She held out her hands and balls of dark light were formed. I knew what was coming next so I dodged the first attack.

She kept firing her dark energy balls at me and one finally succeeded, sending me flying back towards a pole. _Ouch._

I hit it with a thud and groaned as I got up. I looked up and saw Warren fighting Jillian with his own fireballs. Ted was over by the far wall, unconscious it seems. I rushed over to help Warren with Jillian, trying to hit her with all the objects around her. She just kept her steady attack.

Warren was hit by a big energy ball and he went down, a few feet behind me. I heard Boomer yell out using his Sonic Boom.

"One minute left! And try to keep the fire down, we can't see anything!"

It's true, the flames were so high around us now and the growing heat was making me sweat really badly. Jillian looked at me and smirked her horrible smirk. She raised her arms once more and a big energy ball started to form.

She was set to throw it at me and I acted on instinct. I threw my hands up, and thin, shimmering threads of gold erupted from them and met Jillian's attack halfway through its course. The big, dark orb was gone in seconds, beaten by my golden line.

I looked at her then, and saw the surprised, but angry look on her face. I barely heard Boomer call out 20 seconds when I sent my golden line to disarm Jillian. She was thrown to the ground once again, and she stayed down.

I made the golden line disappear and ran towards the citizen, fighting my way through the fire. I took the dummy down and made my way back to Warren as the timer sounded.

Warren was getting up and so was Jillian and Ted. The flames were still high around us so no one really knew who won as of yet.

"Hothead!" Coach Boomer boomed, literally "Do you mind putting the fire out so we can see?"

I saw Warren open his right hand and then close it. The fire was gone in seconds, and I was astonished to say the least. To be in control and in sync with the fire like that can only mean one thing…

The cheering started as everyone saw the dummy in my hands.

"Heroes win!"

Warren nodded at me and left the arena to change. I threw the dummy on the floor and followed him, I passed by a furious Jillian.

"What the hell is your power?" she hissed.

"I'm telekinetic,"

"So what was that gold thing?" she demanded to know so I answered her.

"It's part of my telekinesis... Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get out of these clothes. Good game." I walked towards the screen and quick changed back to my regular clothes.

My friends congratulated me on my first STC game as I went back to the stands. I was more than happy to hear that class was finally over, and even more ecstatic when I realized that school has finally ended.

"First time Jillian has lost… fascinating," Magenta remarked as we exited the gym.

"Dude, she's like, seething right now, look at her," Zack said as we all turned to look at the girl who was pushing everyone who got in her way.

"Her ego must have been crushed pretty badly," Warren grumbled from behind us.

"That's an understatement," Will commented as we watched Jillian open her locker door and smack her locker neighbour's face with it.

"Ouch,"

**TBC**

**A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've got final exams coming up :o I'll try posting the next chappie up soon. Review button!**

**And wow, thanks to those who put this story on their fave/alert list. And I only started a week ago. XD yay thxxx**

"_Look, do you think we can just start all over again from when we first met?" he looked at me apologetically and I couldn't help but smile._

"_What…you want to bring me iced tea again?" I grinned and his mouth twitched, he held out his hand for me to shake. _

"_Warren Peace, nice to meet you," I shook his hand and he grinned.  
_

"_Alexandra Moore," I smiled... no matter how many times I say it, that name gets me every time._


	6. Namesakes

**Disclaimer: The usual applies. **

**I haven't updated this in a while so I'm really really sorry about that, procrastinating has been my main name for a while now. But here's the new chapter, it's kinda short so bear with me, the next one i'll put up veryyy soon.**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

I was sitting at the front steps of the school with Will, Zack, and Ethan, waiting for the buses to arrive. Zack was fiddling with the MP3 player he just fried (he was trying to put extra features on it, as usual), and we were watching his progress with amused expressions on our faces. Magenta and Layla went inside to get a homework assignment from Medulla and Warren was off somewhere.

After Zack gave up on fixing his MP3, Ethan turned to the three of us with a serious face. We all looked back at him, surprise clearly written on our faces for his sudden actions.

"Alex…are you really telekinetic?" he looked at me hesitantly and turned to the other two beside him, who sat motionless.

"Of course…why?"

"Well, I saw you do this thing during the game, some kind of a golden chain…I don't think that was telekinesis,"

Oh damn… now the piñata has been cracked open. I knew there was no point in lying to Ethan anymore; he was after all one of the smartest students in the school. I turned to Will and Zack and silently asked them, they nodded and I knew I could trust Ethan.

"Well, you see…the truth is…"

I told him. I told him who I really am and why I was here. It only took about a minute, and Ethan nodded along, taking in the information.

"So…." I trailed off and looked up at him, looking out for some kind of reaction. He looked at me with a serious face and I held my breath.

"Wow, that's…just…wow…and I promise I won't tell anyone," he grinned and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks Ethan," Will and Zack gave him props and they all grinned at each other.

"I can't believe I'm seeing you in person though. I've always wanted to meet you, or rather, you know, the superhero version of you," he laughed and I couldn't help but laugh along.

Meanwhile, I was silently having a war inside my head …

_See? That wasn't so bad was it?_

…yeah, yeah, whatever you say.

_Now you can tell the other two, you know…Magenta and Warren? _

…I don't think so.

_You know you're going to have to tell them sooner or later, they're really close with the others, they're bound to get suspicious._

…I choose later, now shut up.

_You do realize you just told yourself to shut up right?_

…oh dammit.

The buses finally arrived and Layla and Magenta ran down the steps, followed by Warren, who was followed by a couple of giggling girls. Poor guy looked like he was about to burn down the school.

We got on the bus and flew down to the streets of Maxville. I sat beside Ethan and we sat across the aisle from Warren, who, thankfully was sitting with Zack and not with scary girl. We talked and joked with the others the whole way down and one by one, we all got off at our stops.

"So…what was that gold thing you whipped out at Jillian today?" Warren asked as we walked towards our houses.

Not again…nope… I'm going to play it cool this time. Not that I don't trust Warren, it's just that I don't even know him that well yet…

"Oh…that…that was just a manifestation of my telekinesis. It usually just comes out when I'm desperate," I fiddled absentmindedly with my bag, then noticed what I was doing and stopped immediately. I was supposed to play it cool remember?

"Hmm…you must be really powerful then, having those different aspects to your powers," he continued as we kept walking.

"Umm…can't say, I'm not a very good judge on the whole power level pyramid,"

Warren looked as if he were thinking hard about something so I kept on walking beside him to get to my house.

"Well, you being my next door neighbour is kind of a cliché if you ask me," he finally said as he looked ahead to where our houses were.

"Pardon me?"

"Well, it's like the other girls at school, they end up living close to here and act like the most perfect people at school, with their little obsessions on guys along the way. You know, the Mary Sues?" he finished and I stopped on my tracks and whipped my head at his direction.

"Oh, so you're calling me_ your_ Mary Sue?" I asked a little too harshly.

"I guess…I mean, this is usually how they start out, they're all friendly or really scary at first and then they show their true colours," Warren shrugged but I wasn't listening.

"You know, you're a little conceited for thinking that every new girl who walks through Sky High will automatically feel like they have some sort of cosmic connection with you. Newsflash hotshot, I will never be one of them, so don't you dare call me a Mary Sue." I said angrily and I turned to go towards my house.

This was exactly the thing that I was most worried about. If my telekinesis made everyone think I was a Sky High Mary Sue, then what would they say if they knew I was…

"Wait…Alex, I didn't mean…" Warren caught up with me a few seconds later and I turned around to face him.

"I'm sorry I said that, I wasn't thinking at all," he said as he shook his head, I stood silently looking up at him.

"You're right…I was…conceited for thinking all that. I'm sorry," as he looked at me, I noticed the genuine sorry look he's giving me so I slowly nodded.

I then realized that it was probably way too easy to make assumptions when it comes to Sky High and its students, especially for a guy like Warren, who has probably been plagued by screaming fan girls one too many times. I suddenly understood that he was probably just being cautious. And I had to admit, I _am_ probably a Mary Sue, whether I wanted to or not.

"Sure…it's fine, I understand,"

"Look, do you think we can just start all over again from when we first met?" Warren asked.

"What…you want to bring me iced tea again?" I smirked and his mouth twitched, he held out his hand for me to shake.

"Warren Peace, nice to meet you," I shook his hand.

"Alexandra Moore," I smiled, no matter how many times I say it, that name still gets to me. I can still see the look of horror and shock on my best friend Alexandra's face when I told her I would use her first name as my alias, and her boyfriend Matt's last name. I giggled childlishly in my head.

"Well Alex, I have to go so I guess I'll see you tomorrow," Warren continued and I nodded up at him.

"Yeah, see you," I spotted Danny's bus come right around the corner, I walked towards his bus stop but I tripped on the blasted crack on the pathway pavement. I brushed myself off and stood up, and I heard a chuckle from behind.

"Later klutz," Warren said from a few steps away and I glared at him, he just smirked and opened his front door. _That meanie_, I thought, the last thing I wanted was a stupid nickname.

TBC

"…_insanity is more like it," Warren muttered as we watched Zack tear his eyes away from the news and attempt to stuff a whole slice of pizza into his mouth. Magenta smacked him upside the head and I giggled._

_Will noticed something and he laughed out loud, we all turned to him, about to inquire if he had finally lost his mind._

"_Hahaha!, Warren, have you noticed that lipstick mark on the back of your shirt?" he pointed and I got a glimpse of the red mark. We couldn't help it, we all burst out laughing._

**A/N. Thanks to all who reviewed this story so far, and I hope all the silent readers like how this is going. And just to make things clear, I don't hate stereotypical people, nor do i like them all. I have nothing against goth people, blondes, rockers, nerds, and super preppy people, trust me, my friends and i all fall into these categories XD. Anywhoos, tell me what you thought of this chapter by signing a review (if you feel like it of course). And i'll post the next chapter up soon (maybe tomorrow?)**

**-lala (:**


	7. Of laughter and burnt shirts

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**Chapter 7**

As the forecast predicted, a massive heat wave is passing over the town of Maxville today. My windows were wide open as usual and the fans were on full blast, but I got up as sweaty and sticky as ever.

A shower was very much needed so that's exactly what I did. After that I got dressed while watching the morning news. I put on some jeans, a tank top, and my glasses of course, and headed down for breakfast.

Danny was sitting at the kitchen table, poorly disguising the fact that he was using his powers to keep cool- he got his powers just this summer, the same as aunt Lena's, which was air interaction; they can both speak to the wind (aunt Lena is the superhero Wind Whisperer, and she works at the Hero Control Centre).

The kitchen was very breezy, thanks to Danny, and aunt Lena gave up on stopping him from using any more of his powers (I guess she didn't like the heat either).

After breakfast, I waved goodbye to Danny and aunt Lena and they waved back at me as they walked towards Danny's bus stop down the street.

I reached my own bus stop and spotted Warren already standing there, and of course, Jillian was too. She scowled at me once again and turned away, listening to her iPod.

"Hey klutz," Warren greeted me in all his leather-clad glory.

"It's Alex, and how can you stand this heat? You're wearing a leather jacket for goodness' sake," I fanned myself with my notebook and walked over to a shady spot under a tree.

"I've never minded the heat before," he said simply as he joined me and leaned against the tree.

"Must be nice being a pyro, or better, a cryokinetic for weathers like this," I tied my hair up into a high ponytail but it didn't help much with the humidity, I was still sticky.

The bus finally came and we got on. I sat beside Layla today, while Warren sat beside Will in front of us.

Layla stared at me for a second and I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Will told me that Ethan found out yesterday…" she said in hushed tones.

"Yeah, it was bound to happen eventually, he's pretty smart that way," I whispered back.

She looked around, and seeing Zack occupied with a portable fan he brought, and Will and Warren having a serious conversation in front of us, she mouthed at me:

_Are you going to tell Maj and Warren anytime soon?_

"Yeah, I guess, I'm not sure when though," I shrugged and she left it at that, glancing out the window and Ethan got on the bus. He waved at us and sat next to Zack.

"Hey, did you check what classes you have today?" Layla asked and I took out my schedule.

"Hmm…1st period: 'Working with your Sidekick'…then 'Making your Hero Trademark', lunch…and then double period 'Power Up' classes," I looked at Layla incredulously as I finished reading.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to the classes," she laughed "'Power Up' is probably the most useful though, we get to develop our powers and everything,"

"That sounds nice…"

Layla told me more about the classes as the bus touched down at Sky High and we got off. Even up here in the sky it's still really hot, but it wasn't as humid as down on earth.

--

Just as I predicted, my first two classes were absolutely, without a doubt, the most useless and ridiculous classes I've ever been on.

'Working with your Sidekick' class was a little degrading for the sidekicks. I had to endure a whole hour of listening to the teacher, who was the biggest power snob I have ever met, talk about how the sidekicks never do anything of greater importance when it comes to hero work, and how we heroes have to be patient with them because of their lack of powers.

Layla was chewing on the end of her pencil to keep herself from saying anything and I began doodling on my notebook. I sighed in relief as the bell signaled the end of classes.

So I trudged my way up the stairs to the second floor with everyone else to go to Hero Trademarks class.

Now, this class is officially the new number one on my list of 'The Most Stupidest Classes you've Ever had the Misfortune of Taking.'

The teacher seemed like she was on high, the way she talked about different heroes and how people remembered them. She went on and on about her hero topic of the day: Superman, and how he had created his own trademark with his costume alone.

Being told that having a well-known trademark as a superhero was essential, (and that if you weren't popular, you might as well work as a civilian), wasn't exactly my cup of tea so I ended up playing hangman with Magenta for the rest of the class.

After lunch was the Power Up classes, and I had to admit it's probably the most important class there is in the school. Much better than the others I've been on so far.

We were divided into groups, according to our types of powers and level. I was in the gym with other telekinetics and those who use their minds as their powers, such as the empaths, teleporters, and telepaths.

Layla was outside growing trees and other vegetation, Will was outside too, probably using buses and cars as weights, Zack was in the gym with me, Ethan, and Magenta. Finally, Warren was upstairs with all the pyrokinetics, inside a special fireproof room.

I ended up doing basic exercises with Magenta, Zack, and Ethan for about an hour but Magenta and I got bored eventually and we abandoned our attempts at working and just chatted about random stuff.

She was telling me something about this guy with six arms when I felt an electrical shock run up my arm.

"Zack! What the hell was that for?" I turned around and glared at him and he just grinned, staring at his glowing hands.

"Did it feel like a taser gun shock?" He asked excitedly, I rolled my eyes and Magenta smacked him on the arm.

"What am I, a lab rat?" I rubbed my arm and I could feel the pain subsiding.

"Of course not…so…did it feel like a taser gun?" he asked again and I sighed.

"Just a little, but if you try that on me again I'm going to throw you off the edge of the school, got it?" I said menacingly, he nodded and Magenta laughed.

Ethan came over and plopped down on the benches, obviously exhausted from all the melting he had done.

"Hey Maj, how many guinea pigs did you turn today?"

"About 7, and all of them a different colour. But I ran out of volunteers," Magenta answered.

"Different colour? So…if you turn me into a guinea pig I'll have a coloured stripe?" I asked and she nodded.

"Zack here has a neon yellow stripe and Ethan has an orange one,"

"Can you turn me into one?" I asked excitedly, I really wanted to know how it feels like to be a little animal.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah!"

"Alright," she turned to me with a look of deep concentration on her face.

"You might feel a tingly sensation 'round your back, and an urge to nibble on something," Zack informed me as he and Ethan watched eagerly.

I nodded and closed my eyes, waiting.

Nothing happened. I opened my eyes and saw Magenta with her eyebrows scrunched up in frustration.

"I can't…" Magenta looked at me, first in disbelief, then in curiosity, and then settled on a look of understanding. I raised my eyebrows at her then.

"Maybe you're just tired," Ethan piped in, "You did change 7 people today,"

Magenta shook her head and the next second, she turned to Zack and he suddenly shrunk down into a guinea pig with a neon yellow stripe down its middle. He turned back into a guy 5 seconds later.

Magenta turned to look at me.

"Looks like you're immuned to me or something," she said and I shrugged.

"You know I've turned a lot of people to guinea pigs? Even the Commander and Jetstream," she continued and I stayed immobile with my mouth shut.

She looked at the guys and then back to me.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone," she said suddenly and I looked at her, surprise clearly etched on my face.

"Uhh…what?"

She looked at me seriously, and then grinned.

"Ethan's not the only one with great vision you know… I saw what you did yesterday in Save the Citizen," at this my mouth was hanging open staring at her in shock, and it looked as if Ethan and Zack were doing the same thing.

I closed my mouth and grinned, she was so cool about this whole thing, so I ended up explaining to her the same way I explained it to Ethan.

"So, do you think you can turn me into something else other than a guinea pig?" She asked and I shook my head.

"Oh no, I wouldn't know how to do that,"

We shared some stories with each other and I felt more at ease with myself, seriously, these people were awesome!

--

I sat under a tree with Magenta and Layla as we waited for the buses to come. Layla found out that Magenta found out about me so that was the topic of our conversation.

"So… why didn't you tell me sooner?" Magenta asked curiously and I sighed.

"I was going to, but then…well, you started talking about those Mary Sues, and I thought that maybe…"

"Maybe I would think of you as one?" Magenta finished for me and I nodded.

Layla looked thoughtful. "That's exactly what I was thinking you'd think Alex, as soon as Magenta told you about them," she said and I understood why she was quiet yesterday during our conversation.

"Yeah, but you know what? I don't care if you think I'm the biggest Mary Sue that ever lived, I'm just happy I won't have to pretend around you anymore."

"I don't think you're a Mary Sue," Magenta said while shaking her head, "I mean, sure, you have enough powers to be classified as one, but you're different from the others, it's like a whole new level of 'girl' power'"

"We'll just say, you're an exceptional Mary Sue," Layla teased and I laughed.

"I can take that,"

--

We were at Will's house for a study/homework session and Mr. and Mrs. Stronghold were ever so glad that we came over. They welcomed me warmly and assured me that everything was alright in the search party back at home. Apparently, they have tracked Jackson's central laboratory through that one call he made on my phone, however, they only captured the workers that were in the lab at the time.

"Hey kids, you'll settle for pizza right?" Josie asked us as we finished off Medulla's homework, we nodded and she went to call the pizza place.

Warren was writing an essay for his Hero 101 class and the rest of us just started on a very stupid assignment about forming catchphrases for our Trademark class.

"What about: 'Let your light shine! Glow-man is here!'" Zack said and we just stared at him with our mouths hanging open.

"Dude…seriously?" Will managed to choke out.

That got us started on forming the cheesiest catchphrases, it was highly entertaining. Warren even ended up ditching his essay to join in, no…seriously.

"My mom used to say: "I'll heal your troubles away" when I was a kid," he laughed and we continued on bashing some superheroes' catchphrases.

The pizza came and we all dove for it; Mrs. Stronghold knew just to order enough pizza to fit all of our metabolisms.

Will's parents were called on to settle an attack downtown while we were eating so when they left, we settled on watching the news to see their progress.

"We always seem to end up watching the news," Zack grumbled since we changed the channel from his favourite TV show.

"I say it's good practice for when we do get out there you know," Ethan said as we watched the Commander and Jetstream tackle down bank robbers.

"Yeah, we only have a few more years left," Will said "Aren't you excited?" Zack only grinned up at him and glowed.

"Turn it down a notch will you Zack? My eyes are hurting," Magenta said and Zack stopped his glowing at once.

"Imagine us all being superheroes! We'd be the coolest kids on the block!" Zack exclaimed.

"I think Zack had too much Coke to drink, he's getting high," Layla shook her head and I giggled at the now ecstatic Zack watching the fight on the news and punching the air as he copied the Commander's actions.

"…insanity is more like it," Warren muttered as we watched Zack tear his eyes away from the news and attempt to stuff a whole slice of pizza into his mouth. Magenta smacked him upside the head and I giggled.

Will noticed something and he laughed out loud, we all turned to him, about to inquire if he has finally lost his mind.

"Hahaha, Warren have you noticed that lipstick mark on the back of your shirt?" he pointed and I got a glimpse of the red mark. We couldn't help it, we all burst out laughing.

"Oh shut up," Warren glared at us but we just laughed harder. He saw the mark on his white shirt and literally burned a hole on it.

"Fan girls still following you?" I teased him and he just shook his head, muttering profanities under his breath.

"Tsk tsk Warren, you shouldn't let them touch you like that," Magenta snickered and we laughed even harder.

"Seriously though, they're getting on my nerves, but it's not like I can burn them or anything," he mumbled and I shook my head at him in a pitying way.

"Don't worry Warren, we'll come up with a surefire plan to get them off your chest," Will said and that got us all started on some really wacko plans to get rid of the giggling girls, most of which included gasoline and Warren setting the whole school on fire while we neutralize all of them and leave them inside. It was brutal, yes, but we were only kidding around.

It was the most fun I've had with this group, seriously.

We left Will's house at 7 pm, Layla only having to walk next door to her house while me, Warren, Magenta, Ethan, and Zack walked towards our respectable streets.

Warren and I walked towards our houses together, after the rest of them turned on Magnolia Street. We ended up playing twenty questions out of boredom.

"Favourite Simpsons character?" I asked.

"Bart,"

"Favourite superhero?" it was his turn.

"I have too many to mention,"

"What's your favourite power?" I asked him.

"Healing,"

"Just like your mom?" he nodded at me.

"What about you?"

"Flight,"

"Just ask Will to fly you around," he said and I giggled, Will would probably just drop me or something for fun.

"Nah, he's not that reliable," I chuckled.

"Yeah, he'll probably drop you and then catch you before you hit the ground,"

"Sounds like him,"

"Next question… and you don't have to answer it if you don't want to," I continued.

"Okay, shoot," he said and I took a deep breath.

"Do you have any other powers? Apart from pyrokinesis?" I looked up at him and he stared at me with an unrecognizable look on his face.

"Just tell me if it's classified and I'll drop it, I was just curious that's all," I said and he shook his head.

"No it's not classified, and I do have this one power I got from my mother," he started.

"Healing?"

"No, although I wish I had that…no, I have enhanced hearing,"

I looked up at him in surprise.

"Are you serious?" he nodded.

We reached my house and I realized that no one was home since my aunt, uncle, and Danny went to the movies. Warren and I continued our questions as we sat down on the tree swings in front of my porch.

"And there's another thing I wanted to talk to you about," he continued as I twisted my swing around.

"Yeah?"

"I actually…overheard you talking to Magenta and Layla right after school today, you know, with my super hearing?" I looked at him, my mouth hanging open and my eyes wide in surprise.

All I could think was, _Oh shit._

**TBC**

**"_That's what I thought too, way before I knew who I was," I grinned as I kept on swinging, he did the same._**

**"_So… are you scared?" he asked slowly and I looked at him._**

**"_Can't say…I'm still not too sure what I'm supposed to be doing actually," I laughed softly "I don't know if I should be scared or not."_**

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**A/N. Hey guys sorry I didn't update sooner like I said. My laptop was on the fritz again so I had to get it fixed and everything, it kept turning off whenever I opened the internet : . I hoped you liked that chapter :) and leave a review of course. Tell me what you guys think so far, what you think will happen or what YOU want to happen. lol. maybe I could fit in your ideas to the story. Thanks to all the encouraging words from my reviewers! they make me velly velly happy :D **

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	8. All This Feels Strange and Untrue

Chapter 8 

"Uhh…what about it?" I asked as nonchalantly as possible and Warren sighed.

"I heard you say you didn't want Magenta to think you were a Mary Sue,"

"Yeah…"

"What could possibly make her think that?"

"The same thing that made you think I was one," I answered in a low voice, my mind was at war on whether to tell him or not.

And the thing is, it's more complicated telling Warren, because it meant that I would have to tell him the whole story…the _whole_ story.

"Hmm…" he stared off at the street before him while I waited for his reaction, "It sounded like you were talking about a different thing, something more than your telekinesis,"

This time I sighed and stopped swinging, I turned to him right next to me and stayed silent.

"You have…more than one power don't you?" Warren continued as he turned to look at me closely. I nodded.

"I knew it," he muttered "…and I'm guessing everyone but me knows?" I nodded again.

"I figured you'd be the hardest person to tell," I mumbled and he laughed dryly.

"Yeah, wouldn't want me to think of you as just another Sue again," I shook my head as I grinned.

"That part doesn't bother me anymore actually, you can call me a Mary Sue all you like, I don't mind,"

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, Magenta likes to call me the male version of a Mary Sue because she knows I have more than one power like you," he said and I laughes as I started swinging again. I just suddenly remembered something, a conversation that happened during lunch yesterday.

"They all know you're an elemental?" I blurted out and he whipped his head in my direction.

"How did you-?"

I just smiled childishly at him "I have my ways,"

"You're more observant than I thought," he muttered whilst shaking his head.

I just grinned as I kept swinging, watching as a group of kids ran past us, keeping cool with water soakers on their hands. The warm daylight was slowly passing and a cool night breeze was coming in.

"Are you going to tell me what your powers are? And why you're keeping it a secret from everyone else?" Warren broke the silence.

"I didn't want them to treat me differently," I said silently, watching my feet touch the ground and back up again as I continued swinging.

"Alex, this is a superhero school we're talking about, everyone's used to seeing powerful supers go in everyday," he told me and I nodded along.

"I know, but it's just…" I trailed off, not knowing what to say next.

"You know I have more than one power, trust me, people know that and they don't treat me any different," he said "of course, they were already scared of me even before I got new powers," he added as an afterthought and I smiled at the thought of students cowering under his gaze, even more so than they do nowadays.

Warren continued talking, still persuading me to just tell him what my powers are.

"Everyone's going to find out eventually when you become a superhero right?" he asked and I stopped swinging at once and stared silently at the grass beneath my feet.

"Alex?" he noticed my actions and turned to look at me closely.

I sighed, and then looked up at his face.

"My name's not Alex," I said, looking back at the ground.

"Wha-"

"My real name is Veronica Simpson and I'm here in Maxville under the Justice League's Protection Program," I continued and Warren just looked at me, speechless, with a slight frown on his face.

"I'm also a registered superhero," I said slowly, "I'm Vraine…the holder of elements."

Warren stood up and stopped right in front of me.

"Is that how you knew I was an elemental?" he asked me and I nodded, ready for all his questions.

"My mentor told me that I'll feel the elementals immediately because of our connection," I told him and he started pacing back and forth.

"Your mentor?"

"Lee Yoo Rin of Korea, last century's element holder, she passed away this summer," I informed him.

"When did you find out you were…" Warren trailed off and I answered at once.

"When I was 12… I was already telekinetic then and I began to develop another power, I was classified as one from then on,"

Warren was pacing again, and I knew he was struggling to put his thoughts into words. I was waiting until he asks something so I can actually speak, because right now, I really feel like I can't explain everything without his encouragement.

"And I suppose, us meeting was just a complete coincidence?" he said quietly and I just stared at him, struggling for words to come out of my mouth.

"Yeah well…we were going to have to meet anyways, what with the whole…business," I muttered and he laughed dryly, still walking slowly back and forth.

"To tell you the truth I'm still not fully decided yet," he looked at me, "…and I have less than a year to make up my mind," he shook his head and I just stared at him, remembering how I felt about becoming a superhero just a few months ago.

"How did you manage it?" he asked suddenly.

I sighed and then started my swinging again. "I was still undecided until I met Lee Yoo Rin in March, 3 months away from my introduction to the hero world,"

"And she told you about the whole business?"

"Yeah…" I grinned "and then I became Vraine, I couldn't say no after hearing about Yoo Rin's experiences, all the things she had done, all the people she met and worked with…it was amazing, and I couldn't pass up that kind of opportunity,"

"Well, that's what I thought too, after hearing the 1st generation's fire elemental account of his adventures," Warren said and I opened my mouth in surprise.

"You've met him?" I've personally never met the only fire elemental besides Warren, but I knew he resided somewhere in Russia, retired from hero work.

"When I got new powers and was confirmed an elemental, about two years ago," he nodded.

"So…he didn't convince you at all?"

"A little I guess, but at that time I only just agreed to become a superhero…a regular one. Before that I had no intentions of being a hero, ever," Warren stared off into space as he probably revisited his past.

"Why was that?" I pressed on.

"I knew people didn't expect me to be a hero, what with my…background," he said darkly, I knew that his father was a pretty touchy topic for him so I decided to not make him explain any more.

"You don't still think that do you?" I couldn't help but ask and he shook his head.

"After I became friends with Will and the others, I felt more…encouraged to become a hero," I smiled when he said this. Will had mentioned Warren to me in the past but all I knew was that they became friends after the homecoming incident their freshmen year.

"So what's the reason this time?" I asked him, "why can't you make up your mind about being the fire elemental superhero?"

He stopped walking back and forth and crossed his arms, looking ahead at me.

"I know it sounds pathetic but…I don't want to fail as a hero,"

"All of us will fail at some point Warren," I said, my voice as quiet as ever "It's part of the job,"

Warren sat down on the grass, still looking at me.

"The more powerful you are, the more complicated and huge your mistakes can be," he said and I had to agree with this, but there was something he was missing.

"Even so, you won't be alone when you try to make everything right," I smiled and Warren opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again. He sighed and I mimicked his actions, still swinging.

"What's it like?" he asked, breaking the silence once again.

"Well, I'm still a rookie, but it's not too bad, it's really enjoyable actually," I said cheerfully, remembering all the good times I've had so far as a hero.

"Except when you're being hunted down by a mad villain," Warren commented and I couldn't help but grin at his reference to my current situation.

"So…after becoming a registered hero, you get a few years to experience everything for yourself until you become a fully qualified holder of elements?" he asked, changing the topic and I nodded.

Warren just laughed, "No wonder you think everyone will call you a Mary Sue once they find out, you're like the most elite superhero in this world,"

"Are you forgetting you're one of the chosen few? That you're as special a superhero as I am?" I raised an eyebrow at him and he just grinned.

"But I only have one element to control, you, on the other hand can do anything," he said and I shook my head.

"Nope, I can't do just _anything_," I informed him "I can't control time, I can't heal anything major, and I can't override free will, nor do I have any mental powers apart from telekinesis," I finished off my list and Warren just looked on, an unrecognizable look on his face once more.

"Your powers are still nothing compared to anyone else in this world," he said and I looked at him intently, not saying a word and he continued, "Veronica?"

"You can call me Vee," I said and he nodded.

"Vee…you know I've always marvelled at the fact that Vraine had all these powers. Your identity and holder power was still classified though so I had to trick my mother into confirming that you were the holder of elements," he laughed at this and I couldn't help but smile along.

"Yeah, well, I haven't had too much trouble concealing my holder power, it's so unrecognizable that most people don't notice I use it at all," I said and he nodded along. The one power that classifies me as a holder of elements was being able to alter molecular structure in any matter and transport them, therefore controlling all elements. It wasn't very strong yet but I didn't mind.

"So, have you had any power-ups in that field?" Warren asked curiously and I shook my head.

"Nope, haven't had it yet, I can only alter little things, I can't turn…say the Statue of Liberty into a big block of chocolate yet," I laughed at the thought.

"I'm sure you'd love to do that someday," he commented as he grinned at me, "What about your control of the other elements?"

"Well, I can do the basic stuff like calling it, I can't do any of the other 'unique' things you can do with your element," I told him and I suddenly remembered something, "speaking of which…what is your 'unique' power?"

An elemental is assigned one additional and special power that no other super in their power field has. This is the power that defines someone as an elemental.

Warren pulled on some of the grass around him and answered my question.

"Pyro Divination," he said and my mouth fell open in surprise, "I got it two years ago, and I was confirmed an elemental then,"

"Wow," I whispered slowly, "Do you…see a lot of things?"

He shook his head "It's not quite that strong yet, I only see a few glimpses now and then, most of them about missions," he explained and I was in complete awe of this power, it was just so cool, pyro divination hasn't been seen in centuries.

"Your special power is that golden chain right?" Warren added and I nodded mutely, "And flying?" I smiled and nodded again, feeling elated at the thought of flying.

"They're quite useful," I said "my golden chain is a neutralizer so it comes in handy when I don't have any equipment on me,"

"I can see why you like being a superhero," he commented and I smiled.

"Yeah, it makes me feel special," I laughed.

"So, this means I get to work with you in the future?" he asked and I nodded, looking at the empty street ahead of me.

"Well, it's been always like that. 'Set in stone' as Yoo Rin mentioned before. All the elementals work together, especially during a crisis, like we're made that way and all that jazz," I continued swinging and felt the cool breeze around me. It was 8 pm and the skies have turned a deep shade of red and purple.

"Have you…met the other 2 elementals in your generation?" Warren asked.

"No I haven't, just you so far…Our generation…it feels weird saying it, like we're the 'young element brigade' or something," he scoffed at that and I smiled, still swinging.

There are three generations of elementals in total, and two of the three appear in sync with the one holder of elements. There is one holder every century, and three elementals accompany her or him in their journey. Lee Yoo Rin was last century's holder and the three elementals who worked with her were the ones that controlled water, fire, and the non-living earth. The other elementals are the 2nd generation, the wind and the living earth (they are currently in their 50s, but still strong in their hero work). I'm the 21st century holder and the elementals that I would get to work with are the 3rd generation. This cycle goes on forever; the 3rd generation eventually becomes the 2nd, and so on.

"Fire, water, and earthen elementals, seems improbable doesn't it? What with all the others as well," Warren said and I tore my eyes away from the colourful sky to look at him.

"That's what I thought too, way before I knew who I was," I said quietly.

"So… are you scared?" he asked slowly and I looked at him.

"Can't say…I'm still not too sure what I'm supposed to be doing actually," I laughed softly "I don't know if I should be scared or not,"

"I thought you knew what you were doing?" he asked.

I sighed, "What I meant to say was…well, I know what I'm supposed to do as a holder of elements, but the thing is, I don't know _how_ I'm going to do them," I laughed dryly, "I think that's probably why we're supposed to work by ourselves first before we all work together…to be able to settle our fears on our own," I finished and Warren nodded seriously.

"To tell you the truth, I'm scared shitless about this whole thing," he said in a stage whisper, I laughed right then.

"The Wonderful Warren getting scared? Oh, this I have to see," we laughed and at that moment saw Jillian walking her dog, we waved at her and she replied with a scowl, I rolled my eyes as she turned on the street corner and out of sight.

"You know, I've always thought that having powers meant that you should be a little less scared of the world," Warren scoffed at his words, "I got a big bite of reality when I found out I was an elemental, it seemed so easy before, but now that I'm graduating, I realize that I'm scared out of my wits about being a hero...an elemental hero,"

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Everybody just expects you to handle the whole hero business with ease because of your powers, but that's not always the case... High expectations from others can't be that good can it?" I said quietly as I kept on swinging.

"No, it just makes you more scared of failing them," I could see the blades of grass in his fingers starting to smoke so I cleared my throat, he noticed and took his hands off of them, I grinned.

"Will told me you went to a normal high school," Warren commented as he brushed the burnt grass away, "why not go to a super school like Sky High to train?"

"We don't have schools like Sky High in Canada, but I've been training at our hero centre since I was 10," I answered "And going to a normal high school is _part _of my training,"

"How so? Being able to mingle with normal folk?" Warren asked curiously and I nodded.

"Yup, exactly that, and it's also the best place to learn control," I told him.

"That makes sense, considering you'll be more tempted to use and show off all your powers in a school where everyone does the same," Warren nodded and I grinned as I thought of Sky High students doing just that everyday.

"I can't wait to meet the other elementals," I commented lightly as the wind whipped around us and I lifted my head to cool off.

"Yeah, should be fun to hear what they have to say about this whole thing," Warren agreed as I started swinging higher and higher and touched back down.

"Soo…Warren, want to be best of friends?" I asked as I grinned at him, he seemed surprised by my outburst but he ended up smirking either way, shaking his head.

"Sure, Will will be jealous though," he said and I giggled.

"I'm sure he won't mind if I share a best friend with him," I laughed again.

"I still have to call you Alex in public though right?" he asked and I nodded, "Veronica is too long anyways," he joked and I rolled my eyes.

"That's why I asked you to call me 'Vee' remember?"

"You're still 'Klutz' in my books though," he said lightly, "and I don't even know what you look like for real,"

I laughed at that and flipped my phone open, pressing a button and a picture of me was opened.

"Here, I don't really look that much different," I passed it over to him and he looked at it and chuckled.

"Yeah, you do look the same, but now you have a really bad haircut and glasses," I kicked him on the shoulder as he handed me my phone back and he feigned hurt for a moment.

"Say that again, and be ready to say bye bye to the red streaks," I threatened but he just laughed.

A convertible car drove by and we both saw Annie at the wheel, she looked back at us and I waved at her. She just whipped her head forward and drove on.

"You could probably give them all a run for their money," Warren commented, "if you were the show off kind of person…which you aren't," he added in a teasing way and I just shook my head at him.

"If you want them off your chest, you're on your own," I said as I grinned childishly.

"Well, I could always use one of the plans we thought of today…" he pondered and I laughed, remembering all the brutality.

"That's not very heroic of you," I reminded him and he just chuckled.

"So says the person who suggested locking all the giggling girls up in Medulla's Mad Science lab and release laughing gas in the room," he shot back and I giggled.

"Hey! That's pretty reasonable if you ask me,"

"Hmm,"

"Soo…you're going to call me a Mary Sue from now on?" I teased and Warren just looked at me.

"You're more than a Mary Sue, you know that," he said seriously.

"Yeah, Magenta and Layla said I have ultimate Girl Power," I laughed.

"I'll say," he said "and I won't call you a Mary sue, I'll simply call you…Vraine,"

I smiled at him and we suddenly heard a car coming. The car drove up the street and turned on Warren's driveway; it was his mom.

Warren stood up and picked up his leather jacket from the swing next to mine. He turned to me.

"My mom wanted to meet you yesterday but she was called in at work," he said and I stood up.

"I'd love to meet her, I can tell her all about your fan girls escapade," I teased, motioning to the burnt hole on the back of his shirt.

"Say a word about that and I'll burn your precious phone into ashes," I stuck my tongue out at him and he just shook his head.

"Ha! My phone is indestructible so there!" I shot back at him childishly and he rolled his eyes.

"Then I'll find something else of yours to burn," he threatened again and it was my turn to roll my eyes.

"Sure, sure," I muttered sarcastically as I walked up to Ms. Peace to say my hellos.

**TBC**

_I huffed at him, "We don't 'aww' over everything, you were just really cute as a kid," I grinned and I couldn't help but add, "What happened?"_

"_Ha ha," he laughed sarcastically and I started giggling._

"_Sorry, I couldn't help it," I said in between giggles,_

* * *

**A/N: hey everyone! Just letting you know that I won't be updating for a little while since I'm going to Florida for two weeks, but I'm taking my laptop with me (it's finally fixed) (: so if I get some free time I'll probably update, probably. **

**I hope you guys liked this chapter, I know it's the longest I've done but I think it certainly explains a lot about my OC's background story. So let me know what you think by hitting that little blue button on the side and writing a review ;)**

**I think it's about time I thank my reviewers so here it is: XD**

Mandya1313 – thanks! I'm so glad you like this story and yes, I will keep updating if you keep reading. :)

Nelle07- haha yeah, that "O!" was hilarious! Which part were you talking about? And thanks!

CryingRosex3- thanks! I'm planning to make this story about 20 chaps long, so I hope you keep reading (:

Ayluy- thanks! And me too, I like Mary Sues as long as they're not too show off-y, like they're gods or something and everyone should worship them, that kind of thing. I wrote this story cause I love reading and writing about different and interesting superpowers and their adventures, and I thought that putting part of the setting at Sky High would be easier because of the whole "superheroes are already known everywhere" thing, plus, I _love _this movie so yeah. I hope you continue to read this story and thanks so much!

lalunafour- haha yeah, I felt like I needed to up everyone's powers. I know the movie was all about being proud as a sidekick and everything but these guys deserved power ups, they're just that awesome. :) thanks!!

TravelingTeen- Glad you like it so far! I've got the whole plotline down and just need to write them down coherently, I'll update when I can. (hope you had an awesome time at camp! BTW, I finally wrote a twilight fic, so read that when you can :D )

HermionePeace- thanks! I love that you love it so far so I hope you keep on reading and reviewing! Oh and thxx for putting it on your faves list XD.

And thank you to those who have put this story on their story alerts and faves, you guys are totally awesome, I wish I could give you all cupcakes! (hands out cookies instead)

See you on the next new chapter of Open Your Eyes, entitled: "Meet Sara and the Pictures"

**PS. Any guesses on where this chapter's title came from? Whoever answers first gets a say on when the next update is, even if I'm on vacation :)**

-lala XD

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	9. A Red Raincoat? Awww

**DISCLAIMER: NOPE, don't own anything. I wish I did though. =)**

* * *

"Oh, it's so nice to finally meet you Alex," Ms. Peace said as she took her bag from the passenger's seat and closed the car door. She smiled up at me and held her hand out.

"It's nice to meet you as well Ms. Peace," I smiled back at her as I shook her hand.

"Please, call me Sara," she said and I nodded.

"Of course,"

"Why don't you come inside?" Sara ushered both me and Warren into their house and we followed along.

"Are Lena and Paul not home yet?" she asked.

"No, they went to the movies with Danny, they should be back soon," I replied as I stepped into their entrance hallway and into the living room. It was decorated in warm honeyed tones of brown, ivory, and beige, with hardwood floors.

Ms. Peace asked us if we had had dinner and Warren told her that we ate at Will's already. I sat down on the couch beside Sara and Warren sat across from us.

"I was so glad Warren made friends with our new neighbour so quickly," Sara grinned, "He was always so hostile to the other new kids that move in," she glanced at Warren with a stern look and I had to hold back my laughter.

"Really? I would have never guessed," I commented lightly and Sara laughed.

"So how do you like Maxville so far?"

"It's very…clean and bright," Sara laughed again and I couldn't help but smile along, she was so like my mother, cheerful as always.

"Well we do try," she chuckled, "what about Sky High? How did Power Placement go?"

"I got in as hero, it's okay so far," I shrugged.

"What's your power? I'm sure you're very excited to become a hero," Sara asked innocently and I could see Warren getting tired of his mom's charade of not knowing me, he was running his hands through his hair and fiddling with his cell phone.

"Mom," he said simply and Sara and I turned to him.

"Yes?"

"You can stop the pretense, she already told me everything," Sara looked at him, then back at me for confirmation. I nodded.

"Well," she finally said to me, "you certainly did it sooner than I'd expected."

"Uh…yeah," I started fiddling with my own bag and Warren spoke up.

"_Alex,_ here, told me about the whole elemental business," he informed his mom.

"I see, well, I'm glad you found someone you could talk to about that," Sara turned to me, "it's so hard to explain something I know nothing about," she added lightly and smiled.

At that moment, Sara's red emergency phone rang and she excused herself to go into the next room. I stood up and looked at the picture frames by the bookshelves; they were pictures of Warren growing up with his mother and some with other family and friends.

"Awww…" I was looking at a picture of a toddler Warren wearing a red raincoat, his face smudged with mud.

"Why do girls always find the need to 'aww' over everything?" Warren said as he came up behind me.

I huffed at him.

"We don't 'aww' over _everything_, you were just really cute as a kid," I grinned and couldn't help but add, "what happened?"

"Ha ha," he laughed sarcastically and I started giggling.

"Sorry, I couldn't help it," I said in between giggles, Warren just shook his head at me in a pitying way.

I calmed myself enough to tell Warren that I really liked his mom, she was just so nice.

"She has to be for a healer," he said referring to his mother's cheerfulness.

Sara walked back into the living room with a slight frown on her face.

"What's wrong mom?" Warren asked her.

"I have to get back to the centre, we have a patient who was attacked this afternoon, he was stabilized when I left but he just recently had a relapse," She started to gather her things and walked towards the hallway. Sara looked so worried and was avoiding my glance so I became curious instantly; I followed her to the hallway, with Warren right behind.

"Sara?" I said and she turned to face me, "who is it? What happened?"

She sighed and said the words I was dreading to hear.

"The raid on Jackson Laboratories this afternoon," she said, "Silver Bullet was there and Robin was hit,"

All the colour was drained off of my face, _no, not Robin, he can't be._

"You said he had a relapse?" I asked, my voice shaking.

"They just found that the bullet he was hit with had traces of poison that got into his bloodstream," she informed me and I looked at her with wide eyes, "it's okay, we've called in Rayne Landon from England, she's an expert chemist healer, he'll be okay, I promise," she reassured me but I was still frozen in shock.

"I have to go," she said hurriedly and I nodded slowly, she took a folder out of her bag and handed it to me, "These are the progress reports so far, and the last files are from your homeground," I took the folder from her and she turned to leave after saying goodbye to me and Warren.

"Alex?" Warren stood in front of me and checked if I was alright, I was still frozen on the spot so he took my arm and led me to the living room and sat me down on the couch.

Ever so slowly, I opened the folder and took out the paper in the front; the most recent one; the Jackson Lab mission.

Warren took it from me when I finished reading and I turned on his TV, watching the news and clearing my mind.

"He'll be fine, my mom's the best healer in this country," Warren told me when he finished reading the report.

"I know," I said, Ms. Peace is the only healer in the USA who can fix major wounds so it comforted me to know that she's there to help Robin, plus, another healer is coming in to help, "but it doesn't feel right just staying here."

"You're really close to them aren't you?" Warren asked and I nodded.

"They're like my second family."

Warren sighed and said seriously, "It's not your fault, so don't you blame yourself."

I looked at him, wondering how the hell he knew what I was thinking, maybe he was a mind reader too, or maybe he could read my face so easily like an open book.

I looked at the time and saw that it was 10 pm already. My aunt, uncle, and Danny should be home already.

"I better go," I said and I picked up my bag and headed for the door.

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow," Warren said as he opened the door for me, I stepped out into the cool night air.

"And Alex?" I turned back to look at him, "thanks for telling me about your big secret."

I slowly smiled at him, "thanks for telling me yours."

I waved at him and I walked towards my own front door and entered the house.

Aunt Lena, Paul, and Danny were already in and we all watched some TV before we all went to bed. Aunt Lena and I talked about what happened to Robin since she was working at the control centre then, she reassured me that everything would be fine and I went inside my room to make some calls.

I dialed Bruce's number quickly.

"Bruce?"

"Hi Vee," his tone was stoic so I didn't know what to make of it yet.

"How's Robin?" he sighed and I could picture him rubbing his temples right now in exasperation.

"He's been stabilized, the poison was transmutated by Rayne Landon, and Sara cleaned up the bullet wound."

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Don't worry too much about us okay?…Your parents are here," he suddenly said, "your mom wants to speak with you."

"Alright, thanks Bruce."

"Anytime."

I waited for my mom to take the call and when she finally did, I became happier. I really did miss her and my dad. We talked for a while and she reassured me that we'll see each other soon. I talked to my dad after and when our call ended, I decided to call my best friend Alex.

"Alex?" I said when I heard a grunt from the other end of the line, OH…OOPS, what time is it in Toronto now again?

"Whoodis?" came the reply of a sleepy Alex.

"It's your oh-so-wonderful best friend Vee,"

"VEEE!!!" Alex suddenly squealed and I laughed at her antics.

"I'm so sorry for calling so late, you can go back to sleep and I'll talk to you some other time."

"No, it's okay, I'm fully awake now…it's only…3:28," She said hurriedly. "How's everything there in the suburbs? And the giant floating school?"

"Fine fine, just some stuck-up superheroes and crazy classes, no biggie…" I sighed.

"Hmm…sounds fun, made any new friends?"

"You sound like my mom," I laughed, "but yes, I met Will, Layla, and Zack's friends, Magenta, Ethan, and Warren."

"Ooohh, nice, you sure you're not going to stick it out there forever?" Alex asked.

"Of course not!"

"Okie dokiezzz…So, you heard about what happened at the raid right? Is Robin okay now?" she asked with concern.

"Yeah, they just stabilized him, my parents made arrangements so I can visit him tomorrow after school," I said and I could hear Alex yawning from the other end.

"Give him my salutations since I have Concentration Camp after school tomorrow," Alex was an empath so she has loads of concentration training during the week.

"Will do, now go back to sleep and tell everyone I said hi."

Alex yawned in reply, "Just to let you know, we're starting self-defense training for Gym tomorrow,"

"Nice, that should be a breeze for you Ms. Blackbelt."

"Mmhhhmhh…kay, tell your friends the real Alex said hi," said Alex in an exhausted voice so we said our goodbyes and I turned my phone off.

I looked at my alarm clock and was surprised to see it was past 2:00 am already; my eyes were heavy so I switched the TV off, plopped down on my bed and fell asleep instantly.

_**TBC**_

_I picked myself up off the floor and looked around as I rubbed my head. The grass was iced over thanks to Sheila but I could see the citizen dummy on fire by the pit, courtesy of Karen of course. Well this is a first, I thought, I was probably the first person to ever sleep through a Save the Citizen game._

_"Do you need a pillow?"_

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**A/N: Sorry for the HUGE gap between chappies, I've just been so busy. But I promise I'll try to keep updating as much as I can. I do have just less than 10 chaps to go for this story and then it'll be finitooo. So read & review & breath and I'll have the next one up soon. THXX. and HAPPY HALLOWEEN! :)**


	10. Sleepy in Maxville

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I woke up to the sound of my uncle Paul honking his car just outside, and later I found out that he was trying to wake me up. Aunt Lena yelled at me from down the stairs and told me I had less than 10 minutes until the bus comes. Well, needless to say that woke me up.

I had to cheat on my regular routine so I changed and showered _the easy way_. I rushed down the stairs and out the door as I called out a hurried goodbye to Danny and aunt Lena. I saw the yellow bus already at the stop so I ran over to it.

"Thanks Ron," I breathed out, and I went inside to sit beside Warren.

"You look dead," he simply commented.

"Oh wow, thanks for the compliment."

Warren handed me his untouched bagel, possibly given to him by his mom, and I took it. I was really hungry.

"Mmm…that's good cream cheese, here," I handed him half the bagel and he took it and ate.

After I was done eating the yummy bagel I yawned non-stop. Will and Layla were telling me something but everything became so fuzzy after a while, so I dropped my head and quickly fell asleep.

---

"Alex, wake up."

Will's voice had laughter behind it, and I felt that the bus had stopped. I opened my eyes wearily and raised my head from its position, which happened to be very warm I noticed.

_Oh great_, I thought, I had fallen asleep on Warren's shoulder. And what was even worse was that there was a bit of drool on the side of my mouth, which I wiped off quickly. No wonder Will was grinning like an idiot.

"Awake yet Sleeping Beauty?" Warren asked as he stood up.

"Somebody injure me so I can spend the morning at the nurse's office," I grumbled as I stumbled into a standing position and followed Layla off the bus, with the guys right behind us.

"What do you think she'll do when she finds out we have Save the Citizen outdoors first thing today?" Will whispered to Warren.

Of course, it wasn't much of a whisper since we all heard it. I groaned loudly in response and stomped up the front steps to go to my locker.

I grabbed my books from the top shelf of my locker while Layla did the same at her locker 2 doors down from mine.

Layla walked over to me and said cheerfully, "Warren told us that you finally told him."

I had to smile at that, remembering mine and Warren's conversation just yesterday.

"Yeah," I nodded, "did he say anything else?"

"Well, we heard about Robin, did you get to contact them?" Layla asked as Warren and Will joined us.

"Yeah, he's fine now, I'm going to visit him today after school."

Warren asked, "I thought you couldn't leave Maxville."

"Oh, yeah, my mom is picking me up and we're teleporting there," I answered. We started walking towards the back doors that led out to the outdoor field for the Save the Citizen game.

---

I stopped watching after Warren went up to fight in the game once again for the third time against some other senior. I was peacefully resting my head on my new pillow, Layla's shoulder, as I sipped on a small carton of chocolate milk from the cafeteria. Magenta was playing a game on her cell phone as Zack looked on, and Ethan was reading a book.

We were all sitting on the bleachers of the school's outside field, made especially for team sports and outdoor Save the Citizen. The sun was shining brightly, and it was getting hotter by the second. Warren and Will came back to sit after they had won yet another fight, and the rest of us just said our monotonous congratulations.

Coach Boomer picked Karen the pyro and another girl named Harriett, who could shoot a deadly neon green acid from her hands. They went to the middle of the course and picked their opponents. Karen chose Sheila Hill, a.k.a Freeze Girl, while Harriett looked around the stands and rested her eyes over to my area.

I groaned once again when she said my name and Layla patted my shoulder.

"It's because I'm new isn't it?" I mumbled as I placed my chocolate milk on my seat and walked to the middle of the grassy arena.

I smiled at Sheila as we took our positions; we were heroes.

The game started when Coach Boomer blew on his whistle and Karen and Sheila started advancing on each other. _Some animosity going on there_, I noticed as I dodged Harriett's first acid throw. I ran around trying to get to the citizen, trying to hit my opponent with everything around us; a park bench, a fake lamppost, and a fake tree.

Finally I hit Harriett with the big fake tree, and sent her falling back into a not-so-deep pit by the citizen's feet. I reached out to grab the citizen when a fireball hurled through the air and hit me straight to my stomach. I felt the force of the fireball through my armor and I went down, a few feet away from where I was before. All I could see was the warm green grass, and I felt the familiar tiredness get to me as I immersed myself in deep slumber.

---

"Is she okay?" A worried voice asked.

"She's breathing," Warren's familiar voice said calmly, and I felt myself being turned around. I sensed the bright sunlight through my closed eyes.

"Alex?" Warren shook me awake and I finally opened my eyes, squinting against the brightness, thankfully Warren blocked out the sun with his head so it wasn't that bright.

I picked myself up off the floor and looked around as I rubbed my head. The grass was iced over thanks to Sheila but I could see the citizen dummy on fire by the pit, courtesy of Karen of course. Well this is a first, I thought, I was probably the first person to ever sleep through a Save the Citizen game.

"Do you need a pillow?" Magenta grinned at me as I sat back down on my seat.

"So how many people do you think saw that?" I asked and I took a sip of my now warm chocolate milk. I threw it in the bin a few feet away.

Zack grinned, "Don't worry, they all think you were just knocked out by Karen, definitely not sleeping."

"I _was_ knocked out!" I said and everyone just raised their eyebrows at me. I grinned innocently.

"I thought I heard some snoring," Warren replied, his mouth twitching into a half-smile.

I just ignored them after that and we continued to watch the game.

---

When I entered the house, I heard voices coming from the kitchen so I rushed over there. I saw my mom chatting with aunt Lena and I ran over to her and gave her a hug.

"Sweetie! I've missed you!" my mom exclaimed and I grinned at her.

"I missed you too mom,"

She smiled at me, "Ready to go?"

I nodded and she held out a teleportal remote, she pressed the button and a portal appeared. Aunt Lena went first, and then my mom, and then me. It felt like walking through a wall of water, and then coming out dry on the other side.

I found myself standing at the lobby of the medical center and the three of us walked towards Robin's ward. My mom opened the door to one of the rooms and we piled in one by one.

Robin was awake, and he grinned when he saw us.

"Hi Lena, Liz, who's that?" he asked as he pointed at me. I giggled. I knew he was alright right then to be able to joke around.

"Hey to you too stranger," I grinned as I went up to him and gave him a hug, "you look fine to me, why are you still here?"

Robin laughed, "I've been saying the same thing for hours, but they don't want to listen to me."

"Don't worry, you'll get to leave soon, just a few things first," a voice from the doorway said. I turned around and saw a pretty middle-aged lady with a lab coat.

Robin smiled at the lady, "Vee, this is Rayne Landon, the brilliant healer that healed me along with Sara, she came all the way from England."

I shook Mrs. Landon's hand as I greeted her.

I watched as Mrs. Landon held out a bottle of clear liquid for Robin to drink and checked his charts to see if he can be discharged.

"That tastes awful," Robin remarked as he drank the medicine.

"You're such a baby," I teased.

Finally, he was released so we went downstairs to get some dinner. We talked about the mission and what had happened; apparently all the villains in the lab flew off right away when the heroes broke in, but luckily, they caught a few. The bad thing is that none of them were talking about where Jackson was hiding.

I had to go back to Maxville at 8:00 pm…to finish my homework. -insert sad face- I said goodbye to Robin and everyone else, including my mom, and teleported back to Maxville with aunt Lena.

**TBC**

**_"Need help?" I asked as I propped my elbows up, with my chin resting on my hands, and looked at him, "you helped me with my homework, so helping you with yours is the least I can do."_**

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**A/N : well that was pretty short, but at least I updated! I'm putting another chap in a second, and that's my compensation for all the weeks I've missed on updating. :) And yeah, I don't know when I will be able to update again so I better put my finished ones out already. lol. hope you enjoyed and leave a comment! :)**


	11. Light as a Dandelion

**Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own any of the characters, except for the OC's obviously. **

**Now here's the next one!**

* * *

I was singing along to a TV show's theme song while doing my homework... correction: _glaring_ at my homework. It was for Hero 101; a multiple choice that was completely and utterly confusing.

One of the questions was this:

You are fighting a vampire when suddenly, it transforms into a bat, and your power is super strength, what is the best action to take?

a) You take a stake and hunt down the bat, then stab it right after.

b) You hunt down the bat and let it turn back into human form, and then stab its heart.

c) You take garlic and, using your super strength, throw it at the bat, making it fall to the ground where you can stab it with a stake.

I mean....WHAT the HELL??? Where am I supposed to get stake and garlic? HOW would I know how to stab it if it is in BAT FORM?

And trust me, almost all the questions were like that. There was no way I'd be able to finish this, unless...I asked someone for help, someone who'd done this stuff before. I really wanted to finish off everything, and this is what I kept thinking as I made my way over to the window on the side of my room- which, luckily, faced one of Warren's bedroom windows.

"Psst, Warren!" I called out across the slightly large gap between our houses, I opened my window wide open and saw Warren do the same across from me.

"What?" Warren sounded kind of miffed, but then I realized why as I noticed his laptop on his bed. Oops, I didn't mean to bother him while he was doing his homework. Oh well.

"Hey Warren, you had Hero 101 last year right?" he nodded and I stuck my head out more to talk in case he couldn't hear me, which of course, was pretty stupid thinking since he had super hearing and everything. "Do you remember all the multiple choice homework Walden gave you?" I waved the papers that our teacher Mr. Walden had handed out.

"What, you want me to give you the answers?" he asked and I grinned innocently.

"Well...now that you mention it, could you? Please?"

"And why would I do that?"

"Because you're the bestest friend ever?" He raised an eyebrow at me.

"You want to try that again?" Oh, this is going to be harder that I thought. _Quick_, I thought to myself, _play the pity cards_.

"Because I haven't been in this school for long, and I will probably end up failing because of the stupid classes, and the teachers will never pass me and they'll end up downgrading me to hero support and I will never graduate and become a superhero, all because you wouldn't help me with my homework, which is worth a lot of marks," I took a breath and kept a straight face.

Warren took one look at me and said calmly, "First of all, no one fails for not getting their homework done, secondly, no one gets downgraded into hero support-where did you get that anyway?-And thirdly, you're already a superhero so you don't really need all of this. But something tells me you'll keep rambling if I don't help you."

"You guessed right _mon ami_, so you have no choice but to help me right?" I grinned childishly at Warren and he just shook his head and ran his hand through his dark hair.

"Fine, just come over and I'll help," he said and I turned to get my books.

"Right, I'll be there in a sec," I walked towards my door when I heard Warren cough from the next window over.

"You'd rather walk all the way downstairs when you could just fly over?" I raised an eyebrow at him as he leaned against his desk. Damn, he had a point there.

I walked back towards my windowsill, stuck my head out and looked around, sure, it was large enough for me to go through, and Warren's window was just as big. "Good point, won't someone see though?"

Warren pointed at the big tree that was in between our houses, "There's your cover."

"Alrighty then, grab my books first," I said and levitated my books and papers through his window, Warren grabbed them and placed them on his desk.

I looked down and took a deep breath, it wasn't that high, maybe just a couple bones getting broken when I do fall… Wait! What the hell am I thinking? I can fly! Sure, I haven't flown in days, but it's not like I forgot how to altogether.

"Okay...here I go..." I pushed myself up on the windowsill and sat up, my legs dangling as I started muttering under my breath: "Think light...feathery light...light as a dandelion..."

And then I pushed myself off of my window.

I didn't fall! I felt the familiar sensation of flight soaring through me that I missed so much. I grinned as I made my way over to Warren's open window and stumbled through it, falling flat on my face when I landed.

I guess I forgot that I land horribly when flying.

Warren was smirking at me as I pushed myself off of the floor and glared at him.

"Your flying was cool, but then you had to land like that," he chuckled and I just rolled my eyes as I took my books, "and '_light as a dandelion'_? Where the hell do you get all these things from?"

"Are you going to smirk at me all night or are you going to help me with my homework?"

"Alright, alright, which worksheet were you working on?" he asked, walking over to his bed and pushing aside his laptop, I handed him my worksheet as I plopped down on his bed.

Warren's room was painted in red and black._ Figures_, I thought, as I looked around; his bed sheets were maroon, his table lamp was red set atop a mahogany desk, the TV across the bed was black and it was on top of a matching mahogany bookshelf.

"Man, your room is _so_ red," he glanced at me darkly so I added; "I like red," and he just shook his head and showed me the right answers on my worksheet.

After finishing my worksheet, I settled on watching TV as I sat on Warren's bed. He was typing his essay right beside me, making snarky comments at me as I sang along to music videos.

"Are you done with your 10 page essay yet?" I sighed as I peeked over his shoulder at what he was typing.

Warren was supposed to write a research essay on all the places the senior class will be visiting for their graduation trip. Warren's trip is next week, so he had to finish his essay soon.

"Just have to find some info on the International Association of Superheroes' regulations for undercover work," he mumbled as he clicked on a search engine.

"Need help?" I asked as I propped my elbows up, with my chin resting on my hands and looked at him, "you helped me with my homework, so helping you with yours is the least I can do."

"Alright brainiac, start talking," he opened up his essay window and I laughed as I tried to remember my own lessons on undercover missions.

"Hmm...let's see, they only have three conditions I remember. One is that you have to be an experienced superhero, 3 years of experience with the whole field work," Warren started typing what I said so I kept going. "Then, of course, you have to be clear of any recklessness during your field experience, so definitely no bad histories if you want to do undercover work. And lastly, they choose according to your powers of course; they'll pick an undercover job that's just fit for your powers, so there's less chance of trouble."

I watched as Warren typed all this information down and then turned to me to say his thanks.

"Well, you know me, helping out those in need, it's what I do," I laughed and he just closed his laptop, took the remote from my hands, and changed the channel.

"Yeah, very heroic of you," he said as I took his laptop and proceeded on proofreading his essay; I was curious to see what he wrote.

I stayed in Warren's room until about 9pm when his mom came home. I flew back into my room, with my finished homework in my hands, and went downstairs to get a snack. My dinner at the Medical Center seemed so long ago as I hungrily ate cookies and milk.

I was just thinking about what Warren said before I left; I said "See you tomorrow," and he had this knowing look on his face as he said: "Yeah, of course," in a tone that had mischief written all over it. I raised an eyebrow at him and opened my mouth to ask but he beat me to the punch.

"No questions klutz, you'll see."

"Whatever Flame-boy, goodnight," and I was out of there.

Something definitely smells like a Will Mischief Operation Planning, and he managed to pull Warren into it. Or maybe it was the other way around.

**_TBC_**

_**"Are you crazy?!?" I asked incredulously, "no wait, don't answer that, you are crazy!"**_

_**......**_

_**"And?"**_

_**"Well, I still have my tattoos, and umm…"**_

_**"You want me to hide them for a while?" I finished for him.**_

_**"Yeah, that and…."**_

_**"Oh for heaven's sake Warren just spit it out!"**_

**_

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_**

**A/N: So there it is! Hope you enjoyed the chaps today and I would love some feedback. Oh and did I mention I ADORE the new fanfiction layout? The new story traffic application is soo cool, and now I can see all the people from different countries who's read or come across this story. THANKS GUYS! **

**PS. The next chap is my ABSOLUTE favourite one so watch out for that, I just have to write it all down and edit. ahaha I sound soo excited for it, and I don't know why. **

**Much love,**

**Lala :) **


	12. When Harry met

**A/N: Here's the spanking brand new chapter. I'm aiming for three chaps this week so watch out for those. Anywhoos, hope you enjoy this one! And don't forget to leave reviewss, I ADORE them :D **

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Chapter 12

I was walking towards my bus stop when I was suddenly dragged to the other side of the bushes, I looked at the person who had kidnapped me and let out a scream.

"Ahhh!-"

Okay, so I didn't finish my scream because the kidnapper's hand immediately covered my mouth. I tried to punch him but he blocked it easily, I proceeded on kicking him in the gut when he spoke in a hurried voice.

"Alex stop, it's me."

Funny, that sounded like Warren's voice.

"Huh?" I asked stupidly, looking at the complete stranger in front of me.

The stranger rolled his eyes at me. "It's me, Warren."

My mouth dropped open in amazement as I stared at him, I was finally speechless.

I looked at him. He was wearing an ugly brown knitted sweater that looked as if it had been run over by a car a few times. His pants were baggy and were held up by a brown belt, and his sweater was tucked into his pants. He had square framed glasses on and his hair…his hair was shorter! It was cut into a bowl-like shape and gelled flat with no more red streaks.

"So…how do I look?" he asked as he raised his arms to the sides as he showed me his 'look'.

"What…the…hell?" I stammered out.

"Oh good, it sounds like you don't recognize me at all," he said happily.

"Why are you so happy?" I asked, a bit terrified of the situation. "…Are you on crack?"

"Of course not Klutzy, I just figured I'd do this today, you know, to avoid the Mary Sues," Warren said as he flattened his hair more with his hands.

"Umm….okay?" That was all I could say, honestly.

"Oh yeah, I'm not done with this look yet, and I was wondering if you'd help me out with that," he told me and I just looked at him mutely.

"Uhhuh…"

"Well…I was wondering if you could give me…you know, some acne?" he said and my mouth dropped open once again.

"Are you crazy?!?" I asked incredulously. "No wait, don't answer that, you _are _crazy!"

"Oh come on Alex, you have to help me out with this, I just want a peaceful day at Sky High. Just ONE nice, peaceful, Mary Sue-free, day." He said as he looked at me pleadingly.

Now how could I say no to those pretty brown eyes?

"Fine." I heard myself say.

"Yes! Thank you!" he said as he hugged me.

"You're scaring me… you're all happy and…jumpy."

"Yeah well, Harry is happy and jumpy. Very much unlike Warren," he said and I nodded slowly. "Now zap me some acne, please."

I concentrated hard on picturing his smooth face with acne and waved my hand over his face. Seconds later it was covered in ugly acne. Ouchhh.

Warren looked at his reflection on the window and grinned.

"Perfect!" he smiled, and I had to admit, he still looked pretty good.

"Oh and could you do me another favour please?" he pleaded.

"What?"

"Well, I enrolled at Sky High yesterday and they gave me my schedule…and well…"

"What is it Warren?" I urged impatiently.

"Shhhh…It's Harry," he said and I rolled my eyes at him. "And…I have swimming today, the whole school does, for Save the Citizen remember?" he finished.

"And?" I raised an eyebrow and he looked at me uncomfortably.

"Well, I still have my tattoos, and umm…"

"You want me to hide them for a while?" I finished for him.

"Yeah, that and…."

"Oh for heaven's sake Warren just spit it out!"

"Well, I was going to stuff my shirt to look like I was a little round, but since I have to go swimming…" he said as my eyes started to widen. Oh no.

"Oh no…" I said out loud as I shook my head.

"Oh come on, please?...Just this once?"

"And why would I want to ruin your pretty figure?" I asked him sarcastically.

"Because you're oh so nice?" he replied and I just clucked my tongue.

"Fine, but what do I get out of this?"

"You get to see all the Mary Sues disappointed when they find out I'm not there for our swimming Save the Citizen."

Damn. He had a point there.

"And I'll owe you a big favour, anything you want," he continued.

"Oh all right give me your arm," I couldn't say no to a favour, who knows, maybe it will come in handy someday.

Warren held out his arm and I managed to cover up the tattoos temporarily, and I did the same with his other arm.

"Okay, now give me a pot belly."

"What you just said is so wrong in soo many ways."

He lifted his ugly sweater and the shirt underneath, and I saw those yummy abs. I stared at them and had to concentrate really hard on turning the muscles into fat temporarily.

"You know, if this becomes permanent don't you dare blame me okay?" I said as I waved my hand over his stomach.

"Yeah, well, I'll just have to work out again won't I?" Warren said and I rolled my eyes as I took a step back and looked at his full figure.

"Not bad," I said and I couldn't help it, I giggled…hard.

"Great," Warren…I mean Harry, said happily and I sighed.

"I have to go catch the bus, see you later brainiac," I waved at him and ran to my bus stop, seeing the bus already there.

"Thanks for waiting Ron," I said.

"No problem Ms. Moore, and hey, do you know if Mr. Peace is taking the bus today?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Nope, don't think so. You should just go."

Ron nodded and closed the doors. I noticed that Will wasn't there either so I guess he'll probably fly Warren up to school. I sat beside Layla and she gave me a knowing look as she glanced to the back where Jillian and Annie were. I looked at them, and they seemed to be a little miffed about not seeing Warren. Figures.

"You helped him out with his 'look' didn't you?" Layla whispered at me.

I finally grinned, "You'll love it."


	13. Alex

Chapter 13

I was appalled by how the people in school welcomed Harry when he came through the front doors this morning. Everyone was eyeing him, but not in a very good way. I felt bad because some people started pointing openly at him and laughing because of how he looked. It made me so angry to see the shallowness of the students here, what with all the gossiping about the "fat nerd" as Harry made his way into his first class; he was placed as a sidekick with his power of enhanced hearing.

Harry's first class was just beside my locker, so I saw him walk towards it, carrying new books in his hands. I saw two tall guys walk past him, hitting his shoulder on the way, making the books fall to the ground. The guys just chuckled maniacally as he bent down to pick up his books. Of course, I proceeded on helping him and he said his thanks. I looked up and saw the same guys who had hit him glance our way.

"Oh look, the two newbies meet at last," one of them chuckled and they turned to walk away.

But not before I made some toilet paper appear on their behinds, I heard the laughter moments later from inside their classroom.

"Thanks Alex," Harry said.

"Is this what you were aiming for?" I asked curiously. "To be made fun of?"

Harry just smiled at me. "All part of the plan, and at least no fan girls."

I just shook my head at him and started walking the opposite direction.

"Let's see how your plan goes at the game," I turned back to him and he grinned even more.

As I passed by Warren's locker on my way, I saw that someone had stuck a note on it.

It read: "Come back to school Warren! Feel better!"

It was written on a big heart-shaped pink paper.

I just shook my head.

---

I entered the school's indoor pool for Save the Citizen, taking a seat on the bleachers beside Ethan and Layla. I looked around for Will and Harry and finally saw them come through the doors.

Harry sat down beside us in all his knitted sweater clad glory, glancing at some of the girls around us who were craning their necks looking for a certain someone.

Some people have already asked Will where Warren was, and he just said that Warren was out sick today, earning a big sad response from his fans. It also wasn't a surprise for most to see that the new student had been adopted by Stronghold and co. …they already had me as an example so they just probably assumed that this group had enough pity to take on the new students.

The game began and I groaned in an instant. Coach Boomer picked Annie and some guy in our grade to be villains and they immediately picked on the new kids; me and Harry.

I walked across the changing screen and my clothes immediately disappeared, changed by a horrible blue and orange one-piece swimsuit. I walked to the side of the pool, being careful not to look at my partner.

…Too late I looked at him, and suffice to say I had to cough on my arms to hide my growing laughter. Harry just looked at me and grinned, making me laugh harder.

He was wearing his swimming trunks, his hair still gelled flat, glasses gone but still with acne, and of course, his pot belly. I couldn't help but be proud of my work.

"Ready partner?" Harry asked.

"Of course...Harry," I chuckled as I said his name and I saw him pat his stomach.

"You know this fat you gave me makes me hungrier than usual," he said and I laughed out loud in reply, I covered my face with my hands for a moment to compose myself and Harry grinned in reply.

"So I'm guessing the lack of your tattoos made you nicer then," I giggled. "Let's hope nothing else changes shall we?"

Harry rolled his eyes at me, something very Warren-like, I noticed. "Don't ruin my fun Alex."

I mock saluted him. "Yes sir, Mr. Harry sir. Let's just get this swimming hell over and done with."

Coach Boomer blew on his whistle.

---

Well we lost the game, because everyone knew that Harry's power of super hearing was no use whatsoever under water, and that the two villains had more power than me. Harry and I dived deep into the pool where the citizen was slowly drowning and was knocked over by a big tidal wave courtesy of Winston, the guy on the villain team. Needless to say that killed the citizen and almost drowned Harry and me.

I spat out the nasty, chlorine-tasting, water when I pushed myself up onto the side of the pool, dragging Harry behind me. He really put up a charade of panicking in the water and screaming "Save me Alex!" while flailing his arms in the air, and I heard the collective laughter of our audience in the background.

I grabbed the towels from the rack and threw one at Harry, who was still coughing out water.

"You okay, Barry?" I joked.

"Harry," he corrected me. "And as you can see, I'm perfectly fine."

Coach Boomer shouted. "Heroes lose! Hit the showers Moore and Green."

I stood up and Harry did the same, and we started walking back to the showers while other heroes took our spot in the game. I was giggling again to myself as I looked at Harry's wet hair sticking to his head because of all the dissolved gel.

"Did you hear them laugh at me?" Harry asked when we reached the changing rooms. "That was hilarious."

"I think your pleas for help was what did it," I replied as I opened the door to the girl's changing room. "You never told me you were such a great actor."

"Oh yeah, Harry's great at these sort of things."

I shook my head, smiling as I entered the changing room. I guess this part of Save the Citizen would always be the best.

---

By lunchtime I was pretty much used to seeing Harry's face, and this is why I decided to play cards with him. We were playing speed and when he finally won, he stood up and cheered like a maniac.

"I win!!! Yay!" he shouted happily.

I looked around and saw everyone pointing and laughing at him.

"Okay Harry, not so loud, people think you're already crazy."

"Mission complete don't you think?" he asked me as he started shuffling the cards.

I snorted in reply. If he was having fun with all of this, then I couldn't deny him that happiness.

"Do you want to skip 3rd and 4th period Save the Citizen?" Harry asked.

"Sure," I replied. "We already got creamed last period, why do it again?"

So we said goodbye to the others as they headed towards the pool once again because they were too scared to skip. Harry and I went to the courtyard to relax out on the bright sunshine.

"You know, I saw something this morning during 1st period that I think you'd like," Harry said as he took a book out of his backpack.

"Oh look, you're actually reading your school books! Maybe you should always be Harry during test times or something," I laughed as he glared at me again and flipped the book open.

"Here," he turned the book around so I could see the picture that was on the page. "Straight out of my history class."

My breathing paused for a moment as I looked at the black and white photo of 4 superheroes. _The Elements._

"Warren?" I spoke in a quiet voice, my fingers brushing along the photograph.

"Yeah?"

"This is going to be us in a few years."

"I know."

"It's a good thing you have two alter-egos now. People at Sky High will adore Warren Peace after this."

"You had to remind me about that."

I gave him a huge smile and he smiled back. When he did, he looked exactly like the Warren I knew, not Harry's acne-covered face.

"You can thank me later."

* * *

A/N. Hope you liked this chap, and thanks for the reviews :) they really made my day. For Leriana, I hope the next chapter will answer some of your questions. I'll try to write as much detail about the whole superhero business in the next chap. It won't be too long...(I hope) :) lol. And I loved how you guys liked the last chapter b/c it was my absolute fave. (did i mention that already? :) It was the very first chapter I wrote actually, and then I built a story around that, funny how that happened.

So yeah, watch out for the next chapter, hopefully I'll post it up by tomorroe. NEW YEAR'S EVE!

Here's a little excerpt:

_**I suddenly knocked into someone as I started to climb up the stairs, and of course, it wasn't a Vee moment if I didn't bring that person back down with me.**_

_**"Owiee…"**_

_**"Still a klutz I see," Warren groaned.**_

_**"Oh shut up, why did you stop? It's your fault." I untangled myself from him and stood up, rubbing my sore head.**_

_**He stood up as well. "Do you hear that?"**_

_**"Hear what?" **_

_**My very good day vanished in an instant when I heard my phone ring, and saw the flashing red lights. Warren looked at me, and then at my phone, and his face changed from carefree to alert. I looked at screen.**_

_**Unknown** _

* * *


	14. Vraine

**A little delayed from when I originally planned to post but here it is :)**

**Disclaimer: The usual applies.**

* * *

Chapter 14

I looked at the picture's caption.

"Lee Yoo Rin of Korea, 20th century element holder, was known as Dream 1901-2008 (left)

Georg Vazareva of Russia, 1st Generation Fire Elemental, known as Flame Weaver 1905- (centre left)

Tara Ghanza of South Africa, 1st Generation Non-living Earth Elemental, known as Golda, 1901-2007 (centre right)

Masoom Shera of India, 1st Generation Water Elemental, known as Hydrospeed, 1904- (right)"

"So," I said softly, looking at Warren. "What do you think?"

"They looked like a very unique team," he replied. "With nice costumes."

I looked at the heroes' costumes; they were wearing their country's national clothes. I remembered Yoo Rin's costume that she had shown me; a beautiful and colourful hanbok.

"No spandex," I mused.

Warren laughed. "I guess they were more...conservative back then."

He took the book and flipped the page, there it showed two other superheroes; the 2nd Generation Elementals.

"Jacob Gallagher of Australia, known as Windrider, 2nd generation Air Elemental, 1959- (left)

Misha Taka of Japan, known as Greenfield, 2nd Generation Living Earth Elemental, 1957- (right)"

"Our mentors to be," I said looking at the two superheroes.

"Have you met them?" Warren asked and I shook my head.

We were silent for a few moments, just thinking.

"You're going to do it aren't you?" I asked simply, breaking the silence.

Warren seemed confused. "Do what?"

"You know... our team."

"Oh," he sighed. "Yeah, I probably am."

I smiled. I knew it.

"But I need answers to some of my questions first," he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Ok, shoot."

Warren took a deep breath, which seemed very odd considering his 'Harry' face was not very suited for serious expressions.

"You work for the International Association of Superheroes?"

I raised an eyebrow at him, wondering where his questions are leading to. "Yeah, my hero centre in Toronto is part of their North American division."

Warren nodded. "So…why are you under the Justice League's protection program and not the IAS's?"

"The IAS doesn't have any protection programs. They're more of the 'take charge and plan for attack' kind of people."

"Ahh…the view from an insider. Now I'm prepared." He sighed and I smiled a bit.

"Anything else?" I asked as I stretched out on the warm grass.

"About the team…The Elements…" he started and I smiled, I remembered asking the same exact question to Lee Yoo Rin less than a year ago.

"Yes?" I prompted on.

"Are they ever a part of the IAS?" he asked, sounding curious.

I shook my head. "No, they're a separate team, just like the JL. But they certainly have to work with the IAS and everyone else to function."

"Does it scare you to think that you'll be seen as one of the leaders of the superhero community?" Warren asked suddenly and I opened my mouth in surprise as I sat up in one sudden movement.

"I won't be one of the leaders, of course not… I don't want to be the leader." I said quickly, appalled by the idea…and a little scared.

Warren sat up straight and looked at me eye to eye. "Alex, or Vee, or Vraine…you're the holder of elements, you know that job means that you…"

"I what?" I asked tersely, looking straight back at him.

Warren sighed. "That you're able-or will be able- to control things that no one else can. No, wait," he raised his hand to stop me from saying anything since I opened my mouth, I shut it and he continued. "Don't deny it, you know it's true.

"Flame Weaver said this one thing to me that really stuck to my head. He said 'We _are _the elements', and you know what? I think he's right. Sometimes I feel like I can control every single source of flame in this school. I tried once…and it worked," my eyes went wide when he said this. "The pyrokinetics thought they were neutralized for a moment as I took all their fire… and the effort made me weak. But still, you see? He was right. We are the elements itself. And you…having the hold on all of them. You are it. You're the leader."

I took one deep breath…and then another one.

I was silent for a few minutes, Warren mimicked my actions and for that I was grateful. I considered his words.

"Warren… I may be what you said, but I'm just not ready for all that yet. I'm sure I'll be able to accept it in a few years or so, but just…not now."

And I couldn't help but hope that my words will be right.

Warren nodded, smiling. "For now you're just a superhero right?"

"Yeah, pretty much. I mean, I am still waiting for my first big fight and all that," I said softly.

"Your first big fight?"

"Yup."

"Well…that's…unexpected."

"I told you I was still new to this."

Warren leaned back on the stone wall behind us and looked up at the bright sky. I looked at him and noticed that his eyes were gold in the sunlight, they were very pretty behind his square-framed glasses.

Wait…did I just call Warren's eyes pretty?

Warren shook me out of my thoughts when he spoke again.

"Why don't we talk about something else? Since we've already accepted the fact that our jobs are all set for the future," he said casually, still staring at the sky.

"Like what?" I said, stretching flat out on the grass once again.

"I'm actually pretty curious about what the real Veronica Simpson is like, not the Alex Moore I've known for a mere 4 days," he replied.

"Really?" I asked, and I rolled over to my stomach and propped my elbows up, chin resting on my hands as I looked at Warren intently. "Why? You don't like Alex?"

He shook his head and grinned. "I know everything about Alex already, at least, the story that was fabricated for her. Will was kind enough to tell me all about that."

"Ahh…good ol' Stronghold, you know I've realized over the years that he's actually more talkative than Layla…and Layla's pretty verbose."

Warren smirked and spoke again. "Twenty questions?"

I grinned back at him. "Again? You know my answers two days ago are the same for Veronica as it was Alex's."

"Then I'll just ask different ones this time."

"Alrighty, that's if I get to ask you questions as well," I said and added. "And you have to answer as Warren, not Harry."

"Got it.

"How come you never went to Sky High for school? We have a lot of transfers here." He said curiously and I smiled a bit, thinking about what it would be like if I actually went to school here.

"I was actually offered to go here a while back, but I really wanted to go to a normal school and…that's what I did. Plus…my mom went to Sky High and she told me everything about it, including the whole separation between the students because of their power levels. I didn't like that one bit," I finished and Warren nodded along.

"Yeah, that's one flaw in this school, now you know there's a lot more right?" he said and I laughed right then, thinking about the bullies and the obsessive girls.

It was my turn.

"I've heard much about you before I met you, from Will, Zack and Layla. And I was wondering…you sounded like such a…antisocial and grumpy person then, and then I met you, and you were…different. Did you change?" It was a stupid question but I was overly curious.

To my surprise Warren ended up laughing.

"Did you hear about how big and bad I was? The guy everyone tried to avoid?"

I nodded.

"That was freshman and sophomore year. I umm…decided to be more…open, to people this year. And as you can see by all the notes posted on my locker today, it definitely came with a price." He finished, still smiling.

"Did it have anything to do with you finding out you were a _special _superhero this year?" I asked and I seemed to have caught him off guard since his grin disappeared in an instant, changed by a look of acceptance.

"Exactly that, I thought I would get started on the whole 'liking people' concept relating to superheroism."

This time I was the one who ended up laughing.

"You know Bruce Wayne right?"

Warren seemed confused. "Yeah, why?"

"You should spend more time with him, he'll give you the greatest advice on being a superhero," I grinned to myself, thinking of all the times Bruce would brush off any comment about being a well-loved superhero by the people.

"But you know what?" I continued. "I like this you better, even though I've never really met the old you."

"Glad to know," he muttered, then grinned. "And what about you? Is Alex really the same as Veronica?"

"But of course! After all, I'm not really as good of an actress as Harry is."

We entered another moment of silence, with me still watching him, and him looking as if he was thinking hard about something.

"What are you thinking?" I asked and Warren shook himself out of his daze.

"Nothing," he replied, all too quickly I noticed. "There's a fair on Saturday at the central park, Will told me to ask you if you wanted to go, or if you're allowed to go."

I shrugged. "I probably won't be allowed to go, but we'll see."

He nodded and I heard the bell for 4th period ring.

"Do you still want to skip 4th?" I asked.

Warren sighed. "Why don't we go? Just for fun?"

"Now you're talking."

Warren picked up his book bag and shoved his history book inside it. I stood up and stretched my arms and he stood up as well.

"Come on then partner, let's roll," he added jokingly, speaking in Harry's overly pleasant tone.

I cringed in reply. "If you ever say that again I'm turning your room pink."

"Aren't we past all the threats now?"

I shook my head as we headed towards the stairs to the back doors.

I suddenly knocked into someone as I started to climb up the stairs, and of course, it wasn't a Vee moment if I didn't bring that person back down with me.

"Owiee…"

"Still a klutz I see," Warren groaned.

"Oh shut up, why did you stop? It's your fault." I untangled myself from him and stood up, rubbing my sore head.

He stood up as well. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

My very good day vanished in an instant when I heard my phone ring, and saw the flashing red lights. Warren looked at me, and then at my phone, and his face changed from carefree to alert. I looked at screen.

_'Unknown'_

**TBC**

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**A/N : Reviews are very welcome. I'll try and post another chapitre soon since I just finished the last of my exams and have some downtime before semester2 starts (more like 3 days).**

**Btw, please don't laugh at the superhero names, my friend (who shall be nameless) and I have had a lot of fun fabricating these names, who ever imagined making up names could be that hard? lol**

**Thanksss :D**


	15. It's Not Easy, To Be Me

**Chapter 15- It's Not Easy, To Be Me (and I'm pretty sure you feel the same)**

**Previously:**

**_My very good day vanished in an instant when I heard my phone ring, and saw the flashing red lights. Warren looked at me, and then at my phone, and his face changed from carefree to alert, I looked at the screen:_**

**Unknown**

**--  
**

I willed the ringing to stop as I held it in my hands. It didn't stop. So I did what any normal person would do; I slid the back panel open and took the battery out. There.

Warren was looking at me, worried, "What was that?" he asked.

I shook my head, "I've no idea."

Two things happened at once after I spoke; a black jet flew over the school in lightning speed, followed by a blue and red blur, and quickly disappeared. The second thing was that I felt my neck vibrate, sending a strange feeling down my spine.

"Your necklace is lighting up," Warren pointed.

I held the tiny thing in my hands, wondering why it was doing that. Wasn't it supposed to be my panic button? I reached into my pocket and rearranged my phone in an instant. It wasn't ringing anymore so I was able to dial the number I needed the most. It's funny how I've always acted like such an independent person on the outside while on the inside I'm still always screaming 'Mommy'. So it was no surprise for me to see my fingers press speed dial number one on my phone.

"Mom? What happened?" I asked, after I heard the first 'Hello'.

I heard some static, and then my mom's voice, "He's breaking into the IAS's system right now, I have to go honey, Lena will pick you up from school and bring you straight to the League's headquarters. The IAS has asked the Commander and Jetstream to watch over Sky High."

And then the line went dead. Why would Thunder be breaking into the IAS's system? Unless…

I looked at Warren, "Did you hear that?" he nodded.

"I shouldn't be here, he probably knows I'm in this school," images ran through my head, I couldn't let Thunder attack this school…I couldn't.

"The school is shielded," Warren stated.

"What?"

"The school's shielding system is on, I can hear it."

I strained my ears to try and hear what Warren was hearing, and I did hear something, the crackle of an energy generator. It should have made me feel much safer, but I found myself even more nervous.

"Let's just go inside and tell the others," Warren said, feeling my discomfort.

---

I walked swiftly through the halls of the JL headquarters, heading for the main control room. I was told that Thunder wanted a word with me via a video phone call and I had to answer it quickly. I spotted Bruce by the main monitors, sitting beside Diana, and I walked over to them, they noticed my presence and started the video call without hesitation. The masked face of Thunder greeted me from the screen.

"All these hide-and-seek games are making me tired," his voice made my skin crawl but the glare on my face would not fade away. "What do you say about a final showdown? Your protectors against my people, and you and me…the villain and the hero. What do you say?"

"What about a fight just between the two of us? Forget about the others," I felt Diana fidget on her seat when I spoke in a harsh tone, I ignored it.

"Ohh Vraine, you're no fun at all. No fun," Thunder replied, shaking his head good-naturedly as he did so.

"What's your answer?" I demanded.

He laughed a cold, piercing laugh, "You of all people should know that I crave a big fight. I have my villains, and the heroes are with you. Why shouldn't we all fight?"

I kept silent so he kept going, monologuing of course, like a normal villain would.

"I've been tracking you for a while, just like I'm being tracked by your friends. I know you're in Metro City right now, with the Justice League, where you're well protected no doubt. But I also know that the IAS have allowed them to send you somewhere else to live, and I sent some of my people to search across the continent. I've narrowed it down to Boston, Maxville, and Vancouver, seeing as how the jets that I've sent to search there never returned. Now either you fight me, or I will wreak havoc in those cities. Trust me on that."

The villain's eyes were glistening with excitement, and I felt my vision cloud over with anger. Let him fight me then, if he really wished to.

"You have until tomorrow morning to answer. See you then," he broke off the connection so sudden that I blinked my eyes in surprise.

"The IAS still has to make their decision," a voice said from behind me.

I saw my dad with a few other heroes, all in costumes and heading towards the screens for work no doubt. I turned my gaze over to the now empty screen, still remembering the villain's cold, sadistic, facial expression.

"And of course, I'll have to obey them," I said hotly, thinking of my duty towards the International Association of Superheroes.

"Vee…" my dad started.

"It doesn't matter dad," I cut him off angrily, not wanting to get in an argument right then.

Diana put an arm around me and I rested my head on her shoulder. My dad and Bruce checked the records of the phone call, checking for any clues as to where Thunder may be.

I spent a great deal of time during my training years learning about villains, and not once did I think it would be this hard to fight them. Maybe it was wishful thinking on my part that I thought I would be dealing with villains who only cared about taking over the world and having petty plans along the way. I thought I could face them head on, I thought it would be easy, just like how Kim Possible always defeated Doctor Drakken.

I've always wanted to be a superhero, but never thought of the difficulties that may come along with it; like being a part of an organization that won't allow you to fight, facing an enemy and wishing that they'd just leave, and at the same time wanting to charge them head on. I didn't think this job would be this complex, I may be what some would call 'powerful', but I'm still just a teenage girl, who always wished she could have fun without having implications behind her actions; to be able to go to school without having a secret agenda, to meet friends and be able to tell them her real name and see her real face.

It's too bad being a superhero can't be that easy.

"I have to go back to Maxville," I murmured as I got up and gathered my belongings; my phone and my necklace, which turned out to be more than just a panic button, Diana had it programmed to warn me when the League has sighted any enemies in Maxville. My dad nodded, he put an arm on my shoulder as he led me out of the room, and I waved at Bruce and Diana as I left.

"I was hoping it wouldn't come to this," my dad said in a solemn voice. I knew what he was talking about instantly…my first big fight.

"You've been keeping me from a real fight long enough dad," I told him in the same sad tone. "But this isn't going to end without a fight and you know it."

"Well," he sighed. "If that's the case, then we all will be here, fighting behind you."

"Beside me dad," I corrected him and he gave a small smile. I hugged him tightly before I teleported back to Maxville.

---

I didn't bother turning on the lights in my room, I just laid on my bed, staring at the dark ceiling. I glanced at my window, and got up slowly, I needed to talk with someone, to let my nervousness out of my system.

It was no surprise that I found myself standing at Warren Peace's doorstep.

I rang the doorbell once, and waited. The door opened and Warren's face appeared, not Harry's, but Warren's original face; my transformations on him had been lifted. It was strange but I kind of missed Harry's face, it was more…carefree and relaxed. The way I wanted to be right now, but currently failing to do so.

"Hey Warren, are you busy?" I asked.

He shook his head no, "No, come in."

I entered his house and he closed the door swiftly behind me. I looked around the empty house, Ms. Peace wasn't home yet. I immediately sat down on his bed when we got to his room.

"So how did it go?" Warren asked me as he sat on his computer chair.

"Well I spoke to him, and it looks like he's attacking 3 cities if I don't fight him. He wants a big battle tomorrow," I said quietly, looking down at my hands.

"He doesn't know you're here?" Warren asked.

"No," I replied, and told him about the jets we had seen before. "At least… I don't think so."

"And what happens if he does come after you here?" he asked tensely.

"I don't know, I still have to get my orders from the IAS."

"Do you always have to do what they say?" he asked with curiosity.

"Yeah…I do work for them so naturally, I have to do as they say," I could hear the edge in my voice, the way it always does when it comes to certain IAS missions that I had to go through.

"You don't like it though," Warren simply stated as if he heard my thoughts.

"Just…some of their policies can be a bit…conflicting to some of us."

"Like what?" he asked, concern etched in his voice. He was, after all, going to be a part of the IAS in a few months.

"Well in my case now, the IAS won't want me to fight Thunder, mainly because they don't think I'm ready," I replied. "That's why they agreed to the whole protection program in the first place."

Warren scrunched his eyebrows, thinking hard about what I said probably. The International Association of Superheroes had lost many a number of their supers because they were becoming more strict in their rules about field-work.

"And you want to fight him," he said simply.

"I just want this to be over soon, and the fact is I know he'll stick to his word. He'll attack the cities if he doesn't get the fight he wants."

Warren ran a hand through his hair and looked at me, "You know what I think? I think the IAS is scared to see you fight."

I turned to him in surprise, I've never thought of it that way.

"Because they can't control how you think...or how you'll _act _when you're out there fighting," Warren continued. "They know you'll leave them in a few years, to form _our_ team."

I was silent, but I was pretty sure he knew what was going on in my head. I suddenly heard a clicking noise and saw flames fire up on Warren's right hand, I stared in bewilderment as he looked deep into the flames.

It was his elemental gift.

The flames were gone in seconds, but I saw the look on Warren's eyes as I moved closer to him. He was still staring at his hands.

"Was that…did you see the future?" I whispered.

He nodded mutely and I gasped, "What did you see?"

He looked at me and spoke gravely, "It was vague, I saw a big jet, like the one we saw today, only it was white."

I immediately knew there was more from the look he was giving me,

"Go on," I pressed.

Warren took a deep breath, "I saw you, in costume, you were hit by lightning and you fell."

My breathing paused, so I _was_ going to fight. I nodded in response and he shook his head.

"It's just a picture I saw in my flames, it doesn't have to come true."

"Yeah," I went along with him. "It might turn out differently, after all, the IAS isn't letting me fight."

Warren looked at me intently, as if waiting for me to say something more, like my ranting towards the IAS, insults towards Thunder, and everything else that he knows very well that I only say to hide my real feelings.

"Do you ever wish you weren't…what you are? You certainly wouldn't be in this situation if you weren't." Warren asked as he surveyed my sad face.

"Sometimes…I do wish that. And you're right, I wouldn't be in this mess if I wasn't, but that's just it," I looked down at the floor as I spoke, feeling cold all of a sudden, despite the walking furnace that was right beside me. "I wouldn't want to wish this life on anyone else, I wouldn't want them in this situation."

Warren took my hand, and warmed it in an instant. He probably felt my temperature change; I always seemed to do that whenever I was lost in thought.

"Vee, whether you fight tomorrow or not you're not going to be alone," he said, echoing the words of my father.

"I know."

We heard a knock on the door and Sara Peace came in, a worried look upon her face.

"I thought you two should know, there was a break out at the Rockies Maximum Security Prison just a few hours ago," she said.

"What?" Warren said in surprise, letting go of my hand, making me cold once again.

I felt all the blood rush to my head, that's why Thunder tried to break into the IAS's system, to look for security pass codes. Sara confirmed my thoughts in an instant.

"Veronica, the IAS is in chaos right now. But they made it clear that you won't have to fight tomorrow. You'll go to Sky High and they'll deal with Thunder," she said as I got ready to leave.

"We'll see how their plan goes then," I said grimly and Sara gave me a hug.

"It's okay, the League will still be with you even if you don't fight."

I glanced at Warren as he looked at me with concern in his eyes, probably thinking the same thing I was thinking; his mom knew the fight was going to be in Maxville, and I was going to be in it.

"Bye."

* * *

**A/N: Whew... it took me a while to post this chappie up. But there you have it, hope you liked :) And remember, Reviews are LOVE. :]**


	16. Misery Business

**Chapter 16**

_Three heroes stepped in front of me, shielding me from the inevitable onslaught from the villains. I could feel everyone's fury, but I __couldn't calm them down._

_I had no control over free will, emotions, and actions._

_Fire, metal, and water surrounded my protectors and I as the big light show erupted. I heard the sonic boom, the screams, the peals of maniacal laughter, and the voices of my comrades telling me to run and teleport myself out of there. I __couldn't run, the blood was seeping through my costume from the wound in my stomach. __Blood. I could taste it in my mouth, I saw it on my fellow heroes' - we were all injured… we were losing._

_The hero in the silver and blue costume held my face as I laid on the ground, he had managed to produce some sort of metal dome around the four of us as we tried to tend our wounds._

_"Vraine you can do it," I saw him through my half-opened eyes. "Let me heal you, and you can finish this."_

_"No," I heard myself say softly. "You'll die."_

_"We all die if you don't take my powers," he said to me and I felt the tears fall from my eyes._

_The hero next to us who was tying a bandage on to the other hero's leg turned to the two of us. He was clad in a red and black costume that was now torn in different places, there was a bloody gash on his face that cut off his mask on the side. He took off the mask._

_"I can't heal you like Tom can but I can heal him," he said. "Don't worry about us, we'll be fine."_

_The female hero turned to me as well, "It's your shot Vraine, you can do it," she smiled weakly._

_I felt the hero named Tom place his hand on my wound and a light glow emitted from his hands. The searing pain inside me stopped, but I could feel his life force ebbing away as he replaced my body's energy with his'._

_"Warren save him!" I said as my rescuer fell to the ground. The metal dome disappeared and I faced the triumphant faces of the villains._

_I felt my blood boil in rage as I flew over for my counter-attack. This time I __will win._

---

My eyes flew open as I heard the door shut downstairs. Holy cow, what a strange dream I just had, I tried to shake it out from my head but failed. I felt like it was a premonition; one of my future fights along with the other elementals.

Oh damn.

How was I supposed to be ready for the fight today if I was so freaked out by a dream?

"Mom?" I found myself dialing my mom's phone number…again.

I heard her calm voice from the other end, "Oh honey, how are you holding up?"

"Fine…" I trailed off. "Can I ask you something? Something about the IAS?"

I heard my mother sigh, "What is it sweetie?"

I decided to jump the gun right away, "How come they don't want me to fight?"

She was silent for a second, and that silence confirmed everything that Warren had said last night.

"Veronica… I've worked for the IAS a long time, and you're the first holder of elements they've had as part of their team, they're just being cautious."

"So that's what they call it," I muttered.

"Look honey, one thing I've learned from years of hero work with them is that _we heroes_ decide for ourselves. It doesn't matter which team we're in or if we work alone, we may follow the rules that were presented to us when we joined them, but there's always a time when we break those rules because we feel like we need to be doing something much, much more.

"And this is what you're dealing with right now, you may be working for the IAS but remember, your heart and your mind always comes first…it's your shot Vraine."

I've heard that before. I thanked my mom and said my goodbye after she wished me the best of luck.

The bus ride was tense, it was as if everyone knew something was going to happen. Of course, the tension was probably triggered by the fact that almost everyone knew that about 20 high-security prisoners were on the loose at this moment.

"Alex?" I heard Layla say as we sat down at our desks in the Mad Science Lab when we got to our 1st period class.

"Yes?"

"When this is all over, would you stay at Sky High?" she asked, with a hint of misery in her voice.

"Layla…" I replied, dropping my head on the desk. "I don't belong here. I may be a hero like you but I don't think I'd fit in a school like this."

"You'll have us," she whispered.

"I know, and that's great, but I…" I didn't know what else to say, I knew I was just a guest at Sky High, a guest that had to leave soon.

"It's not your home," Layla finished for me and I nodded.

"I'm sorry Layla," Oh wow, did I feel miserable right then.

"No Vee…you don't have to apologize for anything."

"The best part would always be hanging out with you guys," I smiled slightly.

"Well, we can still do that, not as much, but it's not like you're going to ignore us once you get back home, right?"

"Of course!"

Mr. Medulla came and started our class, but my mind was otherwise occupied with other thoughts, like my wishing that this school won't get attacked anytime soon.

Everyone was quiet during lunch, each of us in his or her own little world, all expecting a big blow sometime soon. I chose to break the silence.

"So are you all going to the fair tomorrow?" I asked and all of my friends turned to me, I seemed to have woken them up from their dazes.

"Yeah, should be fun," Zack replied, smiling a little.

Magenta snorted at Zack, "You'll probably just stick to the kiddie rides as always."

"They're more fun!" Zack retorted child-like, earning a few grins from the table's occupants.

The couple started talking animatedly, and Ethan excused himself to go over to another table where a girl named Elisa was sitting next to her girl friends.

"What's Ethan doing?" I asked curiously.

Will grinned, "He wanted to ask Elisa out to the fair tomorrow."

"Ohh…that's so cute," Layla said as we all watched Elisa nodding fervently at Ethan and both had huge grins on their faces.

Will wrapped an arm around Layla to show that he can be as romantic as Ethan can and Layla giggled.

It's so good to see all of them having fun, no worries in their minds. Will, Layla, Magenta, Zack, and Ethan told me during class that this was their first ever encounter at a mission since the Royal Pain incident when they were still freshmen, and they couldn't help but feel on edge about what was currently happening outside with all the villains loose. I told them that I was as scared as they are, maybe even more.

As the couples around me were occupied with each other, I took a sip from my Coke and glanced at my silent companion who was currently reading a book.

"What are you reading this time?" I asked Warren and he looked up at me from his book.

"The Life of Pi," he said, flipping a page in his book and bookmarking it. He closed the book and faced me.

None of us said anything, we just looked at each other, a silent conversation passing between us. His brown eyes were penetrating, as if calming my thoughts in an instant, and as the lunch bell rang, I gave him a tiny smile and he chuckled out loud. I stood up and so did he, we followed our friends out of the cafeteria, and headed towards the gym for Save the Citizen.

"Veronica?" I heard Warren say in a quiet voice, I turned to him.

"Yes?" I asked in the same quiet voice, we were in front of my locker by then. His gaze on me was full of something that I just couldn't put my finger on…intense admiration perhaps? Or perhaps I'm just deluding myself… But I looked back at him, and I couldn't look away. It sounds so cliché but at that moment I felt something, I felt warm, and I felt adoration towards the guy standing in front of me. I'm admitting it now. There.

He hugged me in reply-a warm embrace that took me by surprise- I hugged him back, and he held on tighter. I couldn't help the tears that escaped from my eyes and when Warren released me, he smiled and wiped them away. Maybe it was the stress of the upcoming fight that got me all teared up, maybe it was just because I felt like I was going to lose…badly.

"You're an amazing person- a superhero," he said softly and I, in turn, smiled back at him. The tears were gone, but the worry was still there.

"Thank you…so much."

Warren opened his mouth to say something else but he closed it in an instant when he looked out the hall window.

The ground shook once, and a blast was heard from outside. I felt a warm hand grab my arm and pulled me towards the gym as the PA system came on with Principal Power's voice telling all students to head there.

The gym that was supposed to be set up for Save the Citizen was suddenly filled with students, half of them panicking, half of them wanting to charge on whatever's outside. I stood by the doors with Warren, Will, Layla, Zack, Magenta, and Ethan. Principal Powers came in with Coach Boomer, she looked as if she'd seen better days.

"As you all know, 20 villains escaped from a high-security prison last night, the bad news is that they've come here to attack us," she said and the talking started at once.

"Quiet!" coach Boomer shouted at once and principal Powers continued.

"Our school is currently shielded by our generators, but it won't last for long. A number of superheroes are outside right now, ready to fight with us," she said seriously, looking around the room. "And that's my next issue, I know some of the older students want to fight them outside, and I won't stop you from doing so…just make the decision wisely; if you know you are not ready, you will stay in this gym, and I assure you will be protected, the younger students have no choice but to stay here."

A few of the seniors and some juniors stood up and walked over to principal Powers. I noticed Annie and Jillian, and for once I felt relieved that they were fighting; we certainly needed their strengths to fight this one.

"Well, this is what we trained for," Zack said as my friends got themselves ready.

I stared mutely as Magenta whipped out equipment from god knows where; rays and neutralizers and gadgets of all sorts. Warren opened the gym door and those who were prepared to fight piled out.

"No," I managed to choke out and my friends looked at me. "You don't have to do this."

Layla walked over to me and gave me a hug, "We're all prepared for this Vee, that's why we have so much training sessions at school."

Zack patted my shoulder, "Don't worry about us, you just go out there and do your thing and we'll do ours."

I opened my mouth to say something as more people piled outside and we were pulled along with them. I took a deep breath and steadied myself, I knew what my friends were capable of so I would try not to worry about them.

"You didn't really think you'd fight this one alone did you?" I heard a voice to my right say, I turned around to face Warren and sighed.

"I was hoping it wouldn't end up here, with all these students," I said worriedly and Warren gave me a small smile.

"Hey," he said. "You said it yourself, the people here are powerful, we can manage."

I stared around the hallway, I figured he was right…and the League was just outside, along with other IAS heroes. I saw Principal Powers walking towards me and my heart raced.

"Ms. Simpson, the heroes outside don't know whether to wait for you or not," she said and I nodded, I would fight, and the IAS can't ground me now.

"I'm sorry about all of this Principal Powers," I muttered.

"It's not your fault Veronica," she said and gently placed a hand on my shoulder. "It'll be over soon."

She soon transformed into her comet self and zoomed off down the hall. I glanced at Warren and he nodded at me. I closed my eyes and opened my hands, feeling the wind wrap around me as I changed into my costume and my old appearance.

The costume I now wore fit me perfectly, as if it was eager to see some action after being put into storage for a week. The golden band on my upper arm that served as a symbol of my 'unique' elemental power felt cold against my skin, and I felt my hair lengthen to what it originally was. My glasses disappeared, only to be replaced by my mask; a graphic design of gold and silver swirls tattooed around my eyes. I took a deep breath and calmed my nerves.

"Come on," I said to Warren as he stared at me looking astonished. We walked swiftly towards the doors, I raised a hand and they were opened, letting me see the heroes along the front of the school, ready for attack from the black jets overhead.

A crackle of an energy generator was heard, and a blast from one of the jets broke through the shields, hitting a part of the front lawn.

A green shield replaced the energy dome around the school as Medulla and Boomer ran towards the main controls for the shielding system. Green Lantern won't be able to keep the shield for long as the jets just kept bombarding us.

I saw Ethan and Zack run over to Medulla and Boomer to help with the shield controls.

I ran over to them, "Concentrate the shield on the gym," I said. "The jets are almost out of bombs."

They nodded and I flew over to where Diana was at the top of the school.

"He's here," she said simply, and I turned to where she was looking.

A white jet was making its way towards us. The clouds formed around the school, and lightning and thunder erupted.

So this is my big fight…

**TBC**

* * *

A/N: It took me a while to post this up since I've been sooo busy lately, what with the last semester of school and university applications. Anywhoos, I've written the next chapter but I need a beta to go over it. It's written in third person and it's probably the longest I've done.

If anyone's interested in being a beta, please just leave a comment on the reviews or msg me through my profile. I will be forever grateful :D

So yeah, hope you enjoyed this one and don't forget to leave a review since you know how much I love them :] :] :]


	17. You can breathe now

A/N: Wow, I haven' updated this in soo long. I'm really sorry about that. I've been so busy with final projects and exams, final year of high school is sooooo excruciating, but on the other hand, I totally love it. Okay, I'm done my rambling, here's the chapter. I'll probably post the next one up after my exams next week. Enjoy! :D

* * *

Chapter 17

**All this feels strange and untrue**

**And I won't waste a minute without you**

Thunder's pawns were first to charge the heroes, the young escaped villains fought with no tactics, therefore they were defeated easily…the skilled ones that charged afterwards however, was another story.

The heroes from Sky High fought bravely, their use of powers was impeccable, and counter-attacking the villains who used every kind of weapon they had to decapitate the heroes' numbers. Some fell, injured, and some fought on with determined faces. Will Stronghold was fighting off two villains at once, and he'd managed to punch one of them into unconsciousness. Layla had a few villains in a stranglehold, thanks to the trees around them. She had a neutralizer gun in her hands and had already managed to use it against her opponents. Magenta was with Zack, and the two were by the school steps, fighting off a number of villains with their excellent martial arts skills and hand weapons, along with the use of their super powers. Ethan was at the side of the school, where the shield generator was, along with Medulla and Boomer, and they were fighting off villains who were trying to break through the generators and blow the entire school sky high.

The Justice League Heroes were of course, extraordinary. Superman was not present, for he had to go to an alien planet to settle a dispute 2 weeks ago. Wonderwoman was facing many villains at once, and was trying to attack the main transport that held Thunder, along with Green Lantern. Batman was fighting the jets up in the sky, and had managed to bring down quite a few.

The International Association of Heroes was sending reinforcements by the minute, but all air transportation were blocked by the many black jets of Thunder's minions.

The heroes were great, but fighting off escaped villains who have been the masterminds of great dilemmas of the past was a difficult feat. The fight went on.

"Warren look out!" Vraine suddenly shouted as one villain threw a bomb in his way. She flew at him as a click was heard and the explosion rocked the area they were in.

**My bones ache my skin feels cold**

**And I'm getting so tired and so old**

The war raged on, the villains kept charging, and the heroes fought back. The students inside the school's gymnasium were well protected, but they were not immune to the sights of the struggle outside; students were crowded around the big window that faced the side lawn of the school. Right then they saw nothing but the dust clearing after they had witnessed with held breath the explosion just in front of them.

"Vee?" Warren coughed up, and stood up slowly. He saw Vraine lying on the ground, with her eyes open, as if in shock. She held out her hands, and the shield she had managed to produce was still around both of them. Luckily no one else was nearby when the bomb was thrown.

"Whew," she said quickly, composing herself and standing upright slowly, a mask of content on her features. Her shield vanished.

Warren helped her up and the two made their way back into the fight. They spotted the villain who threw the bomb their way and needless to say he had some serious degree burns after.

Warren felt Vraine's temperature change in the air, the cold was radiating off of her, and she looked worse for wear.

"You get cold when you're tired," he stated and Vraine shook her head. She lashed out a golden chain to a villain who was shooting weapons in every direction. After the chain wrapped around the villain, Warren saw Vraine wince and close her eyes wearily.

"I'm fine."

Warren grabbed her hand swiftly and quickly sent her heat waves through their linked hands. Vraine felt this comfort and smiled, but in spite Warren's effort she was still tired.

She shouldn't be weary, she thought, she still had to face Thunder.

And that was exactly what happened in the seconds that came.

Thunder rumbled overhead and Vraine looked up, Warren was fighting a new opponent and he was having a tough time. Vraine however, knew he was going to be just fine so she flew ahead to meet the villain's laughter filled face. She saw him raise his arms and lightning filled the sky around him; it was his own form of invitation to fight.

**The anger swells in my guts **

**And I won't feel these slices and cuts **

It was between just the two of them, just as was planned. Thunder shot lightning from his hands and Vraine shielded herself with her force field. He was atop his jet whilst she was on the air, trying to gain control of the weather around them to use on her opponent. '_Think sharp, you're the possessor, the elements are there for you to use, for you to handle with precision and care in order to achieve the ultimate good'. _She concentrated hard on her goal, keeping in mind the words of her mentor to guide her in this task.

"Don't even try," Thunder said in between punches by Vraine, who attacked using physical force after attempting to use his powers against him and failing. "I've been manipulating the weather for years, do you really think an amateur like yourself will be able to take it away from me?"

Thunder hit back with a tremendous amount of force and sent Vraine flying against the side of the jet. He dragged her with the use of the wind to lie in front of him, injured.

"Your blood is all it takes Veronica," Thunder said softly. "Your blood for research, it's all for the good of mankind, what say you?"

"Do you really expect me to believe that?" Vraine spat out, as she slowly got up from her position, she felt blood in her mouth, and felt the sticky substance on the side of her head where it throbbed. "I know perfectly well you want to use my powers as a weapon of mass destruction."

Thunder raised an eyebrow, "There's nothing wrong with using a utility-a very fearful one- to get the peace we need in our world is there?"

Vraine screamed and lunged at him. Fire, water, and wind all lashed out at Thunder's surprised face while he tried to keep it back with his own powers. He realized that Vraine wasn't about to give up anytime soon so he opted for plan B: force her blood out of her. He acted quickly, in a split second while Vraine was sending energy ball after another, he sent a massive lightning bolt towards the people down at the school.

His plan worked; Vraine produced the biggest force field she could do and faced the lightning bolt head on. With great difficulty, she diverted the course of the lightning back into the sky. At this moment Thunder took his golden opportunity to hit her with another bolt of lightning…it worked.

She was like a rag doll, held up by bolts of lightning. She was then hurled towards the ground with so much force that she cracked a deep hole on the pavement. Thunder immediately flew over, a syringe in his hand.

The heroes were trying to get to Vraine, especially those who knew what Thunder was planning, but they were held back by many villains who knew of the plan.

Thunder took a hold of Vraine's limp arm and stuck the needle in, letting the blood flow towards the little bottle. He smiled with satisfaction as he took out the syringe and stood up, ready to leave. But one of the heroes got through the line of villains and kicked the bottle out of his hands, glass shattering onto the ground and littering it with blood.

Thunder screamed and attacked the hero who ruined his plan B, but fighting Wonder Woman was not an easy thing to do. The two flew over to the top of the school and kept fighting.

**I want so much to open your eyes **

**Cause I need you to look into mine**

**Tell me that you'll open your eyes**

Warren finally defeated his villain, and immediately ran over to Vraine, who was lying face up on the pavement. He shook her awake, but all he felt was her cold skin and saw the blood on the side of her head trickle down onto the ground.

"Vee," he whispered. "Come on, you can do this, I know you can. Open your eyes, please. You can end this."

**Tell me that you'll open your eyes**

**Get up, get out, get away from these liars**

**Cause they don't get your soul or your fire**

Warren sent a big fireball towards two villains who were coming for an attack, they went down and he turned towards Vraine. Warren saw her forehead scrunch up, her fists balled up into fists, then her whole body relaxed. Suddenly the air around them grew heavy, the trees and the leaves whipped around the floating school, the clouds moved swiftly in the sky, the engines in the jets rumbled, and the villains and heroes all felt this great disturbance in the atmosphere.

Warren knew what was happening and immediately shook Vraine awake, taking her hand as he did so.

"Vee," he said softly.

Ever so slowly, Vraine opened her eyes, "Warren?"

She sat up slowly and Warren looked at her keenly, "You're doing it Vraine."

"Doing what?"

Warren looked around; the battle was still on full force, "You're controlling everything…right now."

"What?" Vraine looked around and touched the side of her head, feeling the blood. "I…"

"You can do it, just concentrate," Warren urged and Vraine shook her head.

"I can't do it, it's too hard."

Warren tightened the hold on her hand, "No, no, you can do it, I'll help you."

The two looked at each other for a few moments, then Vraine nodded and opened her hands, thin shimmering strands of gold erupted from her open palms and flew around them on their own accord.

Warren smiled, "You can take their powers away from them, concentrate on the natural elements first, they're your forte."

Vraine closed her eyes and reached out to the elements around her, with the sole intent of neutralizing every villain in the vicinity. She envisioned the wind as though it was palpable, and she pulled it towards her and away from the villains who controlled it. She moved towards controlling the aquatic elements from the villains, ice and water rushed towards her and circled above her head, along with the wind. The earth rumbled around them as vines and wooden weapons joined the forming cyclone above her head. The metallic elements were next; the villains' jets came to an abrupt halt, rays, and other weapons flew from their hands and disintegrated to metal dust.

Warren breathed out, "I'll control the fire, just save your energy for the rest."

"Are you sure?" Vraine panted and he nodded.

As Warren took hold of all the villains' fire and directed them over to the cyclone above their heads, Vraine reached out towards the rest; the force fields, the energy balls that the remaining villains were using against the heroes to defend themselves.

And just like that the fighting stopped, the villains stood up with their hands in surrender, they were powerless against the heroes and could not do anything. Wonderwoman and Thunder however, were still fighting, and Vraine acted instantly, she directed the cyclone above her head towards Thunder and enveloped him in the middle of it.

He was trapped, he lost the battle.

**Take my hand knot your fingers through mine **

**And we'll walk from this dark room for the last time**

The cyclone disappeared as Vraine felt the last of her energy leave her and she fell to the floor, unconscious. Nevertheless all the villains were detained, including Thunder. Warren relinquished his hold on the fire, and he fell to his knees right next to Vraine's unconscious form.

"Warren! Veronica!" Layla's frantic voice echoed through the commotion that was happening around the two. She finally made it towards them, and her worried face was turned wholly on the two injured people.

Will, Ethan, Zack, and Magenta all rushed to them, followed by Wonderwoman and other Justice League heroes. Warren watched as if in slow motion, as Wonderwoman lifted Vraine from the ground and headed towards the school building. He felt himself lifted up as well, and he was half-carried, half-dragged by Will up the school steps. He had never felt so drained in his life, and he only had to control all the fire in the vicinity. He was definitely worried about Veronica, and hoped that she would regain her energy quickly, the sight of her unconscious made him uneasy and he wanted nothing more than to stay by her side until she wakes.

As Warren sat by the chair beside Vee on the makeshift hospital bed in the nurses' office, with their friends around them, he suddenly came to a realization that he was ready to do this kind of thing. He was ready to be a superhero, he had just seen Vraine go through her first big fight with as much courage as she can and she survived- despite her current condition, but he was definitely certain she will recover soon enough- and he wanted to be like her, like all the heroes out there today that fought with selflessness, with boldness. Warren knew he would try, and he would do his best as a hero; he had no doubts anymore, he was ready.

Warren watched and waited for Veronica to wake up, and he saw her parents come in the room to check on their daughter, and went back outside to help with the clean-up. Three hours he waited, and as the sun shone bright into the windows of the room and onto Veronica's face, she opened her eyes, as if the sunlight gave her the energy that she was lacking.

**Every minute from this minute now **

**We can do what we like, anywhere**

**I want so much to open your eyes**

**Cause I need you to look into mine**

"Hi," Vee said softly and Warren smiled.

"Hi," he replied and the two just grinned at each other, their group of friends came into the room and bombarded them with questions, to which they answered lightheartedly.

Vee's identity was out in the open now, and as she was released from the nurse's ward, she was faced by her fellow students in the hallway. They all knew who she was now and the hushed whispers followed the group of friends as they walked towards their rides home.

Vee spoke with some of the students, smiling and thanking them for their well-wishes, as well as saying goodbye.

Warren heard her last goodbye to Larry and whipped his head quickly in her direction.

"You're leaving Sky High?" he asked.

Vee nodded sadly, "No one's after me anymore…I can go home."

**Tell me that you'll open your eyes.  
All this feels strange and untrue**

**And I won't waste a minute without you.**

TBC

_I grinned, "Oh it was alright, I guess I just prefer my old school better…although I will miss your daily escapades with your 'fans'."_

_He smiled, "Is that everything you'll miss?" _

* * *

**Song is 'Open Your Eyes' by Snow Patrol. **

**Remember the drill: Reviewwww :) :) :) **


	18. Sleepovers and Carnival Rides

**Chapter 18**

"…I can go home," I said, and noticed the changed look on Warren's face.

"Oh," he said, sounding really downcast, making me feel uncomfortable. He looked away after a while and I bit my lip in nervousness.

Will turned around to face me, breaking the silence, "Not until you go to the fair with us right?" The fair! Yes, thank you Will! One last opportunity to have fun with the gang. I smiled in reply.

I nodded, "Yeah, I leave tomorrow night after that."

"You'll come and visit us soon right?" Ethan asked and I gave him a smile.

"Of course, I'll miss you guys too much."

Zack laughed, "We're getting too sentimental are we?" he joked and I playfully shoved his head to the side.

A car was sent for us to take us back down to Maxville, and everyone ended up talking about the fight we all had just gone through. We also decided to stay over at Warren's house for the night as most of our parents were still helping out with the battle clean-up and the rounding up of all the villains to put them back into prison. Ms. Peace welcomed us in her house and had everyone's things sent over from their own houses.

"Sleepover!" Zack said in delight and Warren just rolled his eyes.

It was 6 o'clock and after eating, we all ended up watching a movie. Ms. Peace left to go to headquarters an hour ago and everyone was either occupied with the movie, or eating, and playing board games.

I went to the kitchen to get everyone more drinks when Warren came in after me and sat down on a stool at the kitchen counter. I looked at him, cokes in both hands. I sat down on the stool, sliding the coke in front of him, which he opened and took a sip from.

"You've been quiet all this time," I said, looking at him sideways, chin resting on my hands. "Penny for your thoughts?"

Warren looked at me and dropped his gaze onto his drink, "You were great today," he said simply.

I smiled, "So were you."

We were silent for a moment and then I added, "Thanks for helping me."

Warren smiled, "I could say the same, you really saved everyone today."

"I don't think I would be able to do that again though," I said, remembering just how painful it was to control all the elements at the same time.

Warren nodded, "Well controlling one element definitely drained me, I can't imagine how you endured that. But I think you'd be able to do it again, it is what you do after all."

"We have a long way to go don't we?" I asked and smiled slowly.

"Definitely," he muttered.

"So you're leaving after the fair tomorrow?" Warren suddenly asked and I turned to him, unblinking.

"Yeah, I can't believe it's only been a week."

Warren sighed, "Well…I guess Sky High didn't fit well with you."

I grinned, "Oh it was alright, I guess I just prefer my old school better…although I will miss your daily escapades with your 'fans'."

He smiled, "Is that everything you'll miss?"

"Well…" I started lightheartedly. "There's Save the Citizen, the crazy classes, the even mad teachers and students, and you guys. But I'm sure I'll see you soon again so I'm not too worried about that."

He nodded and took another sip from his drink, "We'll miss you too…and I'll miss our stimulating conversations, that's for sure."

I laughed, "What are you talking about? I'm going to call and bug you every day, you are, after all, my best friend right?"

"Looking forward to it," Warren laughed, and ever so slowly I noticed him move towards me.

I, of course, was pulled like a magnet towards him as well, I could feel his warm breath on mine, and as our lips were centimeters apart, I felt butterflies in my stomach that I haven't felt for a long time.

"Hey guys! You don't happen to have any more pop corn do you?" Zack suddenly called from the living room where the others were.

Warren and I jumped about a foot away from each other, both our faces red. I fumbled around for the rest of the drinks and Warren got a few popcorn bags and heated them up in his hands as instant popcorn.

"I…umm…" I mumbled as I looked at him and started walking backwards out of the kitchen.

"Yeah…umm…" Warren replied.

I gave him a tiny smile and walked into the living room; he came after me and sat beside me on the couch. I looked at him once and he gave me a small smile in return.

Things are definitely looking up.

---

I opened my eyes a few hours later, and could see nothing but the blue numbers on the DVD player. I was lying against something hard, but I felt comfortable. I was so tired and I could see that all my friends were tired as well; they were all lying down on the floor on their sleeping bags and the couch beside where I was. I made a motion to turn around where I was and I faced a peacefully sleeping Warren, his mouth slightly open. His arm was around me, and I realized that the hard thing that was beside me was also very warm, and beads of perspiration were forming on my forehead.

I nudged Warren awake, "Warren," I whispered.

He moved his face an inch, his hold tightening on me. Of course I didn't mind, but I really had to pee right then, it must have been the two cans of soda I drank or something.

"Pst. Warren," I whispered louder, nudging him on the side. Still nothing.

I poked his cheek and he muttered something incoherent, I squirmed a bit, trying to free myself from his hold. I looked at his peaceful face, and smiled. The butterflies in my stomach were slowly coming back, but I ignored it. As much as I wanted to be held by Warren, my bladder was screaming and I really had to go.

I ended up pinching Warren's nose so he couldn't breath; it was the best way to wake someone up. I giggled silently as he awoke with a start, looking at me as if I was mad. He scrunched up his nose and I smiled up at him.

"Would you mind letting go of me? I have to pee." I whispered, not wanting to wake up anyone else.

It was as if Warren just became conscious of his arm around my waist, he looked down at it and smirked, keeping his hold on it.

"Well," he muttered looking at me and still smirking. "You woke me up from my peaceful slumber, why should I do that?"

"Because if you don't, I will have to resolve to peeing my pants, leaving you to clean up this couch, possibly disposing of it," I said lightheartedly and Warren rolled his eyes.

"Say please," he teased, and he tickled me. I let out a loud giggle, and a snort, and I immediately stopped upon hearing a groan from one of our sleeping companions.

"Please let me go to the bathroom, Warren-oh-so-great," I laughed silently.

He shook his head smiling and finally released me, and I jumped up and rushed towards the bathroom to do my business. When I came back in the living room where everyone was, I saw Warren sitting on the couch rubbing his tired eyes. He looked up when he saw me walk in and stood up.

"Did you want to sleep in the guest room where you and the girls were supposed to sleep in?" he asked and I just yawned in reply. "I'll take that as a yes."

He walked me up the stairs to the room beside his and opened the door.

"Good night," he said as I walked in tiredly.

I turned around and faced him, "Good night Warren," I said quietly and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

He smiled in reply and walked back, towards his room, but before I moved towards the bed I saw him touch the spot on his cheek where I kissed him.

This whole feeling I'm getting is getting stranger by the minute I swear.

---

The bright sunshine woke me up that morning, plus a girlish scream from downstairs, which turned out to be Zack, who had water dumped on him by Magenta to wake him up as a joke.

I climbed down the stairs to see everyone except Warren awake and going to the kitchen to cook some breakfast.

"Hey, Vee, where did you sleep?" Will asked with his eyebrows raised. I choked on the water I was drinking after I saw Layla's eyes widen; I knew exactly what they were thinking.

"In the guest room, duhh," I said rolling my eyes. "Where did you think I slept?"

"Umm…" Will started and Zack and Magenta snorted.

I diverged their attention from that particular topic, "Anyways…what time do you guys want to go to the fair?"

"It starts in 2 hours, so we have time to get ready," Ethan said from the toaster where he was putting some bread in.

Magenta sat down opposite me at the kitchen table, "There's also a concert in the park at night, we should watch it."

"Oh definitely," I said. "I don't think I'm going to be leaving until late at night anyways."

"Hey that reminds me, can I have your locker?" Zack said and Magenta hit him on the head. I laughed.

"Sure, my books are actually still inside it, could you just give it back for me?" I asked and he nodded.

"Hey, the toast is ready," Ethan announced and we thanked him as he got out some butter and strawberry jam.

"Should we wake Warren up now? He should get something to eat," Layla said as she took a bite out of her toast.

I stood up, "I'll go wake him up."

I climbed up the stairs and opened the door to Warren's room. He was on his bed peacefully sleeping, with his bed sheets tangled around him. The windows were wide open and I could even see the inside of my room from across it.

"Wake up sleepy head, breakfast is ready," I called as I looked out the window, it was really nice outside and I couldn't wait to go to the fair.

Warren grumbled from where he was and he cracked an eye open.

"Come on, we're going to the fair in two hours," I said enthusiastically and he finally sat up slowly.

I gulped as I saw his half naked form stand up and scratched his head, he picked up his phone from the floor and turned to me.

"How was your sleep?" he inquired and I smiled, unable to look away from his toned chest.

"Oh it was comfy alright," I replied, moving towards the door. "I'll just let you get dressed while I go eat breakfast okay?"

"Right," he said as if he just noticed he was in his boxers in front of me. "I'll be down in a sec."

I went back into the kitchen where the rest of the guys were and resumed our conversations. When Warren came down and ate, we decided we'd go back to our houses first to get all the stuff we need for the fair such as blankets, etc. for the concert in the park tonight.

Warren came to my house next door with me to help me pack and get ready for today. He was very quiet the whole time, except when he commented on the homework that he helped me in which was now on my table, graded an A.

I decided to pack the fast way using my telekinesis, and as my belongings were flying in every direction, Warren and I resolved to watch music videos on the TV.

"Hey, how was that essay you wrote for school? Did you get it back yet?" I asked.

"Yeah, I did pretty well on it, thanks to you," he grinned and I laughed.

"I only helped with like, two sentences, but you're very welcome."

Warren took the TV remote from my hands and started surfing the channels, "I heard the other seniors came back yesterday to find the school in such a mess, they were probably too disappointed to have missed out on all the fun."

"Oh yeah, they were on that senior trip," I remembered. "Well, at least they had fun wherever they went. And it's your turn next week right?"

"Yeah, we leave on Sunday evening," Warren replied.

"Where are you going first?" I inquired and he shrugged.

"I think it's Maxville Hero Centre first, after that I've no idea where we're going."

I nodded, "Sounds fun."

Will and Layla suddenly called from the front lawn that they were ready to go so Warren and I went downstairs and headed towards the park, which was only a few blocks away, where we met the other guys.

---

The fair at the park could be heard from blocks away, and when we got there we saw a crowd of people of all ages just enjoying themselves. There was a midway with carnival rides and game booths, plus food vendors of every kind. We all ended up rushing towards the food vendors to stuff our faces and then got on the rides.

Ethan met up with his friend and eventually went off without us and the others did the same; Will and Layla and Zack and Magenta. And of course, I was paired off with Warren. We were supposed to meet the others for the concert which starts much later on in the night so Warren and I spent most of our time eating and playing games. Plus, some of his fans spotted him and we spent about an hour running away from them. I had a side stitch from running and laughing so hard and trying to keep Warren from burning any of the girls who decided that it was 'hunt Warren day'.

I got into a Ferris wheel ride with Warren, finishing off the ice cream cone I was eating during the line up.

"You don't get dizzy during rides do you?" Warren asked skeptically, looking at me.

Shaking my head I said, "No, why?"

I saw his teasing face look back at me, "I don't want you barfing up cookies n' cream ice cream right beside me."

I aimed a perfectly good kick at him before I sat on the seat and he limped his way over to sit beside me, "So what do you want to do after this?"

"Oh I don't know, we could go to the jumping castle or something," I shrugged casually as I looked at the view of the city as we revolved around.

"A jumping castle?" he laughed. "Only you could call that fun."

"Uh uh, you forgot about Zacky, that's his favourite."

We laughed for a while, and our ride continued. It was almost sunset, and as I watched in fascination as the skies turned bright orange, my conversation with Warren went in another direction, per usual.

"I can't believe you were only here for a week, it seemed like more…although that's probably because of your slight tendency to talk too much," Warren said and I snorted.

"You like my speech habits, admit it," I laughed.

"Among other things, yeah," he said smiling and I looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I thought you didn't like me then, especially that one time when you accused me of being like your stalkers," I asked, smiling in spite of myself.

"No, I was just, cautious…a bit. And then I asked Will and Layla about you," he said and I sighed.

"And they told you what Alex was like," I continued for him.

"They might have been lying about your identity," he said quietly. "But everything else they told me was true."

I smiled a little, "Ahh…the buddy system, always works…So what did they tell you then?"

"That you were a great person basically," he grinned. "And that they thought we'd become friends easily."

I smiled at that, "They were right."

"Yeah, I'm glad I listened to them."

For some odd reason I couldn't stop looking at him, I saw him staring at me and I had to stare back. That's the most polite thing to do right?

Suddenly our ride stopped and I was broken out of my reverie. We were at the top of the Ferris Wheel as the people at the bottom got off and new people got on.

"Veronica?" I heard Warren speak and I turned around to face him.

"Yes?" I said, barely a whisper. He was inching closer to me.

"What if I told you I liked you from the first day I met you?" he said softly.

His warmth was pulling me close and I did the next thing I could think of. I leaned forward and kissed him. To my utter surprise he kissed me back, and I weaved my fingers through his hair as he placed his warm hand on my neck to pull me closer to him.

One simple word to describe this moment was just bliss, plain and simple. It felt so good to be here, and I didn't want it to end. But sadly, we came to a halt as we reached the bottom and got off. Warren took my hand and we walked towards the park benches.

I kissed him lightly, then pulled away to look at him. "What if I told you I was attracted to you the first time I saw you?"

"Hmm?" he mumbled as he proceeded on kissing along my jaw line…that felt really nice.

"You were a very good-looking waiter," I smiled. "Hmm…I wonder how many girls have told you that already."

He chuckled, "A lot, in fact, you were probably the only one who didn't ogle at me while I was serving you. That's how you caught my attention."

This time I giggled, remembering my almost swooning over him, "I do like to keep things to myself most of the time."

He grinned and we continued our kissing.

"Oh my god!" I heard someone squeal and I turned my head around to see the stunned face of Layla and Will.

I turned to Warren, "A little help?"

"Sure thing," he replied and grinned. "Will, Layla, could you just give us another minute? We'll meet you at the field later."

Layla and Will nodded mutely and walked away, but not before I heard another squeal from Layla. I shook my head and grinned.

"I'll never hear the end of this," I laughed.

"I don't mind one bit," Warren said as he leaned in one more time to kiss me.

I didn't mind either…not at all.

* * *

**A/N. haha there it is, they finally get together. Hope you guys aren't mad at me for taking this long, I just wanted them to be good friends before that happened. lol, remember the drill: review review review cause they make for happier me, and happier me makes for faster updates. thankkssss for the reviews I've gotten so far, you guys rockkk! :]**


	19. A New Chapter Begins aka The End

Chapter 19

The rest of our friends had knowing smirks on their faces when we met up with them at the park to watch the concert. Warren and I sat on a blanket and he pulled me closer to him, earning a wider grin from Will. The concert started and everyone fell quiet as we listened to a concierto. After half an hour of listening, Warren and I got up to get more popcorn, where we saw my aunt and uncle plus Danny and ended up buying cotton candy instead with them. They decided to watch the concert and left Warren and I to go to the playground, sitting on top of the jungle gym and pigging out on the cotton candy.

"Look at that," I said in a whisper, looking up at the night sky full of twinkling stars. Warren looked up once and then back at me. "Warren?"

He looked at me, and somehow I knew what he was thinking right then. My stomach clenched with guilt as I looked at him; what was the point of me making out with him if I was to leave in a few hours? Warren took my hand and weaved his fingers through mine, I put my head on his shoulders and was silent.

Finally he spoke in barely a whisper, "I had an epiphany today," he let out a tiny smile.

I raised an eyebrow in reply, "An epiphany? What?"

"Remember how I told you that I wasn't sure about being a hero?" I nodded and he continued. "Well, I did feel some adrenaline rush when I was fighting today, and I managed to control the fire in the vicinity, and I thought…well, that it wasn't too bad."

"You were great," I assured him, smiling as I did so.

"And now I can say that I'm ready to work as a hero," he replied.

"I'm looking forward to that," I said, and looked up at his eyes, our faces were inching closer to each other when a ringing interrupted us. It was my phone.

"Hello?" I said grinning at Warren, who glanced at his watch.

My mother's voice replied from the other end, "Hey sweetie, I'm at your aunt's now, but it seems as if they've gone off to the fair as well."

"Yeah," I told her. "They're here, they said they'll be going home soon though."

"Okay then, and how long will you stay there?"

I sighed, "I think a little bit after 12."

My mom replied warmly, "Alright sweetie, we'll wait, have fun with your friends."

"Thanks mom," and I turned off the call.

Warren turned to me and sighed, "And it seems as if Cinderella has until midnight."

I laughed, "So you're admitting that you're sort of like Prince Charming?"

He scrunched his eyebrows in disgust, "Urgh, Prince Charming? No."

I smirked, "And what will Warren Peace do to his Cinderella? I'm curious."

He cupped my cheeks with his hands and kissed me lightly. This was so much better than a moonlight dance. Suck on that Cinderella.

Halfway throughout the kiss however I was met with a sudden realization, my mom was waiting a few blocks away to take me back home. I couldn't stay. So that's why I did what I did next, I stopped our kiss and Warren looked at me, concerned.

"I'm sorry Warren, this was a mistake," I said, pulling away from him. He held my face closer to his in response.

"No it's not and you know it."

"I'm leaving," I said, looking away from him.

"So? It's not like I can't wait," he reasoned and I felt a tug at my chest. Boy did I want him to wait for me, really I did.

However, the more reasonable side of me won the argument inside my head and I said, "I don't want you to wait Warren."

He didn't say anything, he just looked at me, and I felt myself turning red by the second.

"Look," I finally said. "I'm stationed at the other end of the continent, and when you graduate, I know you'd want to stay in Maxville at first then move on to other places. The thing is…the time in between that, we're going to be away from each other. I could never ask you to wait for me."

Warren spoke, and his voice was no more than a whisper, "And what if I want to?" he asked with conviction.

"Warren…I want you to wait for me, I do, but I can't help but feel a little selfish in asking you that," I shook my head at him and I looked down at the sand beneath our feet. "There are other girls you should meet, date, and…well…"

I mustered a glance at Warren and was surprised to see a slight smile on his face.

"You're right," he muttered and I looked at him intently, my heart pounding faster. "I guess I would feel the same if I had asked you to wait as well."

I would have gladly told him that I could wait but felt as though that wouldn't be the best thing to say right then so I nodded slowly. He continued.

"Just one thing though," he said and I nodded at him, willing him to go on. "A few years from now, when there are a hundred guys trailing after you, promise me you'll let me take you out on a date."

I smiled at him and put a hand on his cheek, "Absolutely."

And we continued to sit there, with my head on his shoulder, silent as ever. A silent conversation passed between us, as if our goodbyes need not be said out loud. It was quarter to midnight when we decided to slide down the jungle gym poles and walk back to the concert.

We spotted our friends getting up to their feet and packing up the blankets they had sat on. Together we traipsed out of the park and into the bright lights of the midway which was about to close at midnight. We talked at random, reminiscing about what had happened during the week- with Warren as Harry being the highlight as well as the fight the day before- and wondering what would happen next week in the school.

"This was definitely the best week I've ever had," I told my friends as we headed out of the park and into the neighbourhood streets alight with streetlamps. Everyone seemed to agree that the past week certainly was a memorable one.

The walk did not take us long, and as much as I wanted to walk there for a while, we ended up reaching Aunt Lena's house in a very short time. This just proves furthermore that time definitely passes by quickly when one is having loads of fun, especially with one's friends.

Magenta, Ethan, and Zack said their goodbyes first before they headed over to their houses a few blocks away.

"Call us soon, and visit when you can," Zack reminded me as we shook our hands in that crazy guy handshake he seems to do with me a lot. I laughed and hugged him after failing to wring my hands in sync with his.

"It was really nice getting to know you two," I told Magenta and Ethan as I hugged both of them and they replied warmly, saying that they can't wait until my next visit.

I waved at them goodbye and I was left with Will, Layla, and Warren, all of whom had different expressions on their faces; Will was smiling sadly, Layla almost had tears in her eyes, and Warren…well, his look was hard to recognize, but if I was to hazard a guess, I'd say he was a little sad as well?

"Well, Vee, I guess this is it," Will said sheepishly as I turned to give him a hug goodbye.

"Yeah," I replied. "Thanks for your hospitality," I grinned and he laughed.

Layla turned to me now, and tears were definitely falling out of her eyes.

"I'm going to miss you so much," she said as she hugged me and I patted her back. "It was so nice having you here."

"I know," I said, close to tears as she was. "But I'll call and chat you with you soon don't worry, it'll seem like I never left."

She smiled at that and let me go.

"Well, Will and I better get going, we'll see you soon okay?" she said as she and Will waved goodbye to me and walked away, leaving me and Warren on my doorstep.

A second later the door opened and my mom's face was revealed, smiling widely at me.

"Hello honey," she said to me and turned to Warren. "And hello Warren, it's so nice to finally meet you! Your mom has told me loads of stories about you."

We were led inside the house and saw that Warren's mom was indeed in the living room with everyone else.

"Time to go soon," my mom said as I said goodbye to Danny, my uncle and aunt Lena, as well as Ms. Peace. "Your stuff is already home, and since no one's tracking any form of supernatural transportation anymore, you can teleport yourself."

I nodded at her and I saw Warren give me an inquisitive glance, I smiled and said, "Well, I can transport matter, therefore I can transport myself."

"Yes, you can do anything, I'm not as surprised anymore," he said teasingly and I swatted him on the arm.

My mom took out her teleporter, said goodbye to everyone and vanished. I waved goodbye to the others and walked with Warren towards the door. At the entrance hall I turned to him and prepared myself to say goodbye to him. I tried to read his face as I looked at him but I didn't want to guess at what he felt so I asked him instead.

"What?" I asked, as he looked at me smilingly.

He hugged me in reply and I felt lost in his warmth, "Just that…I'm glad you were sent to Maxville."

"Me too," I murmured. "Me too."

He raised his arm and touched my cheek softly, then let his arm fall, I savoured his touch and almost missed his words.

"I'll miss you."

I smiled at him, "So will I.

"See you around Warren," I waved at him and I teleported away, feeling myself leave aunt Lena's house, the last thing I saw was Warren waving at me goodbye with a ghost of a smile on his face.

---

Wednesday was Jackson's trial so I headed to the Justice League headquarters with both my parents. It was short and to the point, Jackson was sentenced to a lifetime in a high-security prison. And that was the end of that chapter, I wouldn't have to deal with him anymore, and frankly, I was on cloud 9, even though I knew that wouldn't last for very long.

Since I got the whole day off school, I stayed at the headquarters, helping out with the response team and doing some paperwork like I had during this summer.

I sat in the café at around noon with superheroes Cyclone and Vectress when I saw a group of superheroes walking into the grand hall; they looked as if they were new to the place. They were all dressed in a colourful array of costumes, each one representing their powers presumably.

"Looks like the new batch," Vectress commented on the group "I met the previous group last week, they were nice, except for that elastic guy with stripes and his somewhat heavy-set friend."

Cyclone and Vectress were 2 years older than me, and they graduated from Sky High themselves, so we talked much about my time there.

At half past 12 the two got a distress call and had to leave, and I headed out of the café, passing by Wonderwoman who took me to the main control room to watch over the city.

"I have to give the tour to the new heroes after Green Lantern soon, want to come with as Vraine?" she chuckled and I grinned.

"I'm not sure I'm really tour guide material," I said as I watched the group head over to the control room through the monitors.

"Suit yourself," Diana grinned and walked over to the main doors to greet the newcomers.

And then it hit me, it was the senior class trip from Sky High!

I stumbled up from my seat as I saw the group come in; Diana was leading them to where I was, the main monitor.

"And here we are, we usually have at least one person manning this station, we have the bird's eye view of the city here, and detectors for abnormal activity," Diana was explaining to the group as they walked around.

Diana introduced me to the group and I said my hellos timidly. I could feel their gazes on me, mainly because they knew who I was probably. I recognized some of them and they waved eagerly at me, I smiled and made little conversation with them.

But the person I was most looking forward to seeing ever since I realized it was their class trip that came today was still down by the main doors, talking with another super. He was wearing a black leather-like suit, a.k.a. X-men style, with red down the arms. The logo on the right of his chest caught my eye; it was a cyclone of fire, just like what we managed to do during our fight with Thunder. I smiled.

Walking down the steps to greet him wasn't as bad as I expected, sure I had a massive liking for him, but I knew that being romantically involved with Warren wouldn't be the best right now. We were both willing to stay good friends, and that's what I intend to do. I guess I expected it to be hard, but now that I see him here, it's nothing but that; I was happy to see him.

"Flare," I started as I looked him up and down, surveying his costume. "It suits you well."

"Hey," he said, giving me a wide hug. "It's good to see you."

I smiled up at him, "Nice costume," I said as I touched the patch on his uniform.

"Thanks."

I heard Principal Powers say over the student's heads that the tour was over and that all the students were free to go around the headquarters and meet back in an hour at the entrance hall.

Warren…ehem, I mean Flare held out his arm for me to take.

"Shall I be given the tour by the famous Vraine?" he teased.

I played along as I took his arm, "Well, my services don't come cheap Mr. Inferno."

He chuckled, "I'll get you some lunch."

"That would work."

I sat across from him on the small café table, munching on a chicken wrap.

"You don't think this is too weird?" I asked.

"What is?"

Casually I waved a hand, "Oh, you know, sitting here, all dressed up. It's just…different, from our normal conversations that's all."

Flare only chuckled in reply, "Yeah, I can't believe I actually miss those talks."

"Ahh…of course, no one can match my randomness when it comes to talks. Remember when we were playing cards and I told you the story about sex-ed in my school?" I laughed.

Flare shook his head as he grinned, "Who wouldn't?"

I giggled, "Well, when I came back to school on Monday, they were wrapping up all the presentations, and all these brochures and…ehem…products were shoved at me. It was hilarious."

"Too bad they don't have that at Sky High," he replied, as he drank his soda.

We talked more for a while, mostly nonsensical stuff like other people's costumes and superhero names, and where everyone was planning on going after they graduate.

"The IAS for you is it?" I asked Flare and he nodded. "Good, we may be able to come and join forces on international newbies missions."

"They have that?" he asked.

"Well, they have it once a year I think."

"Either way, I think I would be a little intimidated working alongside Vraine," he replied and I giggled.

"You know I don't bite, and you shouldn't be intimidated, for I am nothing more than a newbie like yourself."

Blaze shook his head, smiling, "It's strange, a week ago I didn't even think of coming to the trip because I wasn't at all ready. And now here I am in this ridiculous costume, and I actually want to fight villains."

"It's called the 'Heroic Impulse'" I laughed jokingly. "And I happen to like your costume very much."

We grinned at each other and when we were finished with lunch, I took him around the building, talking just as we used to.

……

An hour later, Warren's group was scheduled to leave so I took him towards one of the benches near the entrance and sat down with him. Minutes later, his schoolmates came around, followed by Principal Powers.

"Looks like I have to go," he said and I got off the bench and stood up.

"Well, have fun for the rest of your trip," we walked out of the rest area and stopped by one of the marble pillars in the entrance hall.

"Yeah, and you have fun with…normal school and saving the world," he grinned and I nodded, smiling in spite of myself.

"You too, I mean, you will be saving the world soon enough, whether you like it or not."

"Hey you know me, always taking risks and all that jazz," he said in such a happy tone that I recognized it as 'Harry's tone' at once. I giggled so hard that some of the people passing by turned to look at us.

"Oh, I'm really going to miss you and everyone," I said sadly and he walked over and gave me a hug.

"I'll miss you too, but technically, you're only a zap away from coming over to Maxville and visiting us," he let go of me and I nodded once again, showing that he was right.

"But hey, remember me when you're all famous as Mister Inferno," I joked and he laughed his deep, booming laugh.

"You're one to talk miss Superstar Vraine," he chuckled and I hit him on the arm.

"You've been spending WAY too much time with Batman and Robin."

Principal Powers entered the great hall and called out to everyone that they were leaving. I hugged Warren once again and he smiled down at me.

"See you around Vraine."

"Bye Flare," I waved at him and he walked off, but not before I muttered something that I was sure he heard perfectly.

He looked back and nodded at me, a smile forming on his lips. I decided that it was time for me to get home and get my homework from my best friend Alex. I went on to find Wonder Woman to say goodbye when I heard a familiar voice call out my name. I turned and saw Ms. Peace standing before me, a big smile on her face.

"Thank you, you have no idea what your words meant to him, he's actually excited to be a hero now," she smiled knowingly and I realized she probably heard everything I just said to her son.

I smiled back at her and gave her a hug.

"Well, you and I both know he'll be an incredible fire elemental super hero soon enough."

"Of course, just like you," she grinned and I shook my head.

"Nope, just LIKE you," I corrected her and she laughed and we said our goodbyes.

I left the Justice League headquarters with a new feeling stirring up inside me. Anticipation. Anticipation for what lay ahead, I was neither scared nor happy, I just thought about meeting the rest of the elementals soon and that gave me enough courage, knowing I wouldn't be alone.

I accepted a long time ago that I was the ultimate Mary Sue, but you know what? I don't care anymore, especially because I know that the most extreme critiques of all time have accepted who I was and were excited to see me save the world.

My time at Maxville has been an eye-opener for me and for Vraine; that even the most powerful superheroes will get scared at some point in their life, they'll get frustrated, sad, hopeless, and helpless. They'll meet people, many they won't like, but that's inevitable. However all the negative things will be countered by countless of perks, such as meeting new heroes and having fun saving the world.

Each superhero is unique- Mary Sue or not- and none of us are ever alone when it comes to saving the world.

* * *

**A/N: **

**Well there it is, the final chappie in this story. It took me a while but there you have it, consider it my new years present for those who are still reading this. Thanks for the reviews, faves, and alerts, and C2 adds. I truly appreciate them. And plus, I've got an epilogue on the way, but it might take me a while to post since I'm back to school on the 4th.**

**Once again, thanks for reading this story, and a special thanks to those who stuck by from the very first chapter. *hands out cupcakes***

**HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010! :)**

**-lala**


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